The Beginning of Forever
by KeikoTakishita
Summary: They thought it was all over, but in all honesty, it was only beginning. Sequel to Digimon Frontier Refreshed.
1. Let's begin

**DISCLAIMER: I'm only going to say this once, because you all should know better. I DO NOT OWN DIGIMON. I will certainly tell you all if that changes in the near future.**

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Takuya POV:

**BEEP BEEP BEEP. **

"Gyah!" I flew up into a sitting position, breathing quickly and harshly. I pushed the snooze button on my alarm clock and sighed, falling back onto my pillow. I had an hour and a half. Then the first day of seventh year would start. I dreaded school. I mean, it wasn't so bad, since I knew that Kouji, Izumi, Keiko and Kouichi would be in my grade, but it was still obnoxious.

I look at my clock again, five minutes had passed. I stood up and stretched. I hate school. So much, I absolutely hate-

**BEEP BEEP BEEP.**

"SHUT UP!" I yelled, grabbing my alarm from the bedside table and throwing it into the wall.

"Kanbara Takuya! What in the world are you doing up there?" my mother yelled from downstairs.

"I'm… I'm washing my hair!" I yelled.

"Well wash it more quietly! I need my rest! You and Shinya are the reason I have wrinkles! Now keep it down! I put you in this world, I can take you right back out!" she screamed.

"I laugh at the face of danger!" I yelled down the hall.

"And I'll laugh when I'm cleaning up your ashes!" she roared.

That shut me up.

I walked down the hall and into the bathroom, doing the usual morning routine of showering, trying to brush my hair, eating breakfast, and dodging my shoe mom throws at me when I say I can't find it. Finally I got into the car and was driven to my first day of school.

**

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**

Izumi POV:

I met Kouji, Kouichi, Takuya and Keiko at the front gate and walked in with them. They kept getting our names called out by other people and greeted with questions as we walked into the school. All of them had made ourselves known around the school

Takuya was a jock. Everybody knew Takuya because he was the soccer team captain and he was super athletic. He was also the guy who would have really weird answers to questions in class.

Kouji was a sexy, badass loner. He's so well known because he's really great at kendo and all the girls have hour long drool sessions over him and his sexy, badass loner…ness.

Keiko was also a jock. She was amazing at soccer and was beginning to excel at volleyball. She's also really nice to all the people, and everyone always wants to talk to her for advice and all that jazz. Oh, and it doesn't hurt that she's cute.

Kouichi is just plain old adorable. I mean, he's the guy that all the girls wanted to hug and get valentines from. He's the teddy bear and he really cares about other people.

And me… Erm… I don't exactly know…

"Do you think I really changed?" I asked.

"Izumi… trust me. People will definitely like the new you. There's no way they could treat you like before." Keiko turned and looked at me as we stood around Takuya at his locker.

"Probably… but you guys are all _known_ for something. Kouichi's adorable, Keiko and Takuya are jocks and Kouji is a sexy beast. What do I do?" I asked.

"I'm a sexy beast?" Kouji asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah." the four of us answered at once.

"But honestly, what makes me… cool?"

"Well, for one you're really sweet and you care about other people." Kouichi said, smiling.

"And you're really pretty and all the girls totally want your hair color." Keiko added.

"And you hang out with me." Takuya said brightly, giggling.

I punched him on top of the head, "I'm serious!"

"What you just did is a good example, Zumi. You're feisty and you make everyone laugh." Keiko said, her eyes lighting up. Keiko has the coolest eyes. They're like blue-green and it's totally weird. In a good way. It's like… aquamarine? Yeah, aquamarine. But I digress…

"I really do?" I asked, puzzled.

"Yep. You're totally cool." Kouichi said.

"So we're like amazing, cool, awesome people?" Takuya asked, his grin widening.

"No… he is…" Keiko said, her eyes wide and sparkly. We all looked over to see three guys walking our way. "See the one in the middle? That's Tanaka Tamotsu (A/N: Here we go…) I've known him since third grade. He's gorgeous and smart and funny and I'm going to marry him." Keiko declared, her hand holding onto my elbow. He _was_ gorgeous, I guess that she wasn't kidding. He had sandy blonde hair and dark green eyes and he was lean and all that good sexy stuff.

He and his two also beautiful friends walked by. Tamotsu looked at Keiko and waved, grinning, "Hey, Keiko!"

Keiko smiled back, keeping a cool composure, "Hey, Tamotsu!" she said back. Tamotsu and his friends walked away and around the corner, resuming their conversation.

"Epic fail." Keiko said, leaning back into the lockers.

"No, he's all yours!" I exclaimed.

"Chhyeah right, he's a Greek God." Keiko said, sighing, and tugging on the sleeves of her yellow shirt.

"He smiled at you, Keiko." Kouichi pointed out.

"Really?" Keiko asked in an adorably hopeful squeal.

"Got that right, girlfriend!" Takuya chirped in a high pitched girl voice. We all stared at him in silence for a moment. Takuya cleared his throat, "Sorry." he said in a deep and manly voice.

"Anyway, Kouji it looks like he's almost as hot as you." I said, smiling.

"_Almost._" he scoffed, rolling his eyes.

A rabid redheaded girl ran up to him and began to screech and jump up and down, "Almost! Almost!" she squealed before running away with glee.

"…Alrighty then." Keiko said after a long silence.

"Does that always happen to you?" Takuya asked.

"Hmm… sometimes…" Kouji said, looking down for a moment.

"_Sometimes?_" we all pressed, leaning in a bit.

"You guys are so annoying." Kouji said, leaning away from us and turning his head.

"Aww! Is Kouji-Wouji shy?" Takuya cooed, pinching Kouji's cheek.

Kouji slapped Takuya's offending hand and snarled, "I'll shy you right up your-" the bell rang and the hall began to clear out.

"Saved by the bell! Well, onto first class! See you guys!" Kouichi said, turning and walking away.

"Right, we'll talk about this later. Come on, Keiko. We have first bell together." I said walking to the literature wing with Keiko while Takuya and Kouji kept snapping at each other. We're in for a very interesting school career.

**

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Kouji POV:

I exited the school with Keiko and Takuya, we were going to meet Izumi, Kouichi and Junpei on the other side of the soccer fields. "Are you ready for soccer tryouts, Takuya?" Keiko asked.

"Oh yeah. I was born ready. How about you?" Takuya asked, his trademark grin plastered on his face.

"Uh-huh. I've been running all summer to get ready for the three mile run." Keiko replied.

"There's really a three mile run? I thought that the older kids were just saying that to scare us." Takuya said, sighing.

"Yeah, I thought that, too. But Naoki volunteered to coach the seventh grade boys team this year and he said that they do it every year, all the people trying out, both seventh and eighth grade, run together. He said it wasn't that bad." Keiko said as she tugged at a piece of my backpack absently.

"Sweet. Running with girls. Can't get enough of that. I might stay behind just so I can-"

"Takuya, there's a ton of guys trying out this year. Naoki said that they're gonna cut over twenty, and that's just from the seventh grade boy's team." Keiko interrupted.

"Crap. Maybe some other time I can see." Takuya muttered.

"Jocks…" I mumbled under my breath.

Takuya smacked my arm, "Jealous. Aaaanyway… there's this girl in my gym class who was totally into me." He grinned. "And she _almost_ ignored Kouji."

"Ooh, Takuya's got an admirer already." Keiko teased, poking Takuya in the cheek.

Takuya rolled his eyes, "I've got several admirers, Keiko. The chicks dig me." he replied, smirking.

"No they don't."

We looked over to see that Junpei had said that. He was standing with Izumi and Kouichi and he was smiling at us. "How was your first day?"

"Fun, how about yours?" Takuya asked.

"It was good. So, any classes with Tamotsu, Keiko?" Junpei asked.

"Uh-huh!" Keiko exclaimed with a grin, "Wait, how did you know about Tamotsu?"

"Um… you were gushing about him all day in lunch and art, remember?" Junpei asked.

"Yeah, and then he came over and asked you if your brother was coaching and you basically fell out of your chair." Takuya reminisced, causing us all to laugh.

Keiko's face turned red, "Shut your trap." she hissed.

"Keiko, don't worry about them," Izumi said, putting a hand on the pouting brunette's shoulder. "I would be excited, too." She spun around and pointed to us. "And _you!_ You'd better shut your mouths or I'll shut them for you!" she snarled.

Keiko's eyes widened as did the rest of ours. Izumi's scary. "S-so… are we gonna go pick up Tomoki or what?" Keiko asked, shaking.

"Yep!" Izumi squealed, grabbing Keiko's arm and dragging her down the sidewalk, the rest of us following.

"Jeez, schizophrenic much?" Takuya whispered.

"You mean bipolar?" I asked.

"O-oh… yeah, bipolar." he replied. I sighed. It was going to be a very long six years until college.

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And so it begins! Well, the poll is restarted and now the new adventure starts. You may be able to see most people's conflicts and whatnot in the series already. Like, Keiko wants Tamotsu, Izumi has some identity issues, etc. etc. Oh, and this is important. This will be one of the few chapters that I write in POVs. The rest will be in third person. Anyway… review, because it'd make me so happy and it'd make my self confidence go up, like, tenfold. I love you all!


	2. You've Been Running Through My Mind

So my friends, I'm doing a quick update for once! I just have two quick things to say before I start the next chapter. As far as poll results go from DFR here was the final standings:

The winner was Kouji, with 23 votes, which ended up being 56 percent.  
Tied for second was Takuya and Kouichi, each of them getting 7 votes and 17 percent.  
Izumi and Junpei tied for third with 2 votes each, each of them receiving 4 percent of the votes.  
Dead last was Tomoki with 0 votes and 0 percent. Not too shocking if you ask me.

Aaaanyway, **I've got a new poll up** and we've already got some votes! There's 18 choices and you can pick 10! Maybe it's too much, but I don't care.

Oh, and as far as this chapter goes. I don't really think soccer tryouts go like this, I've been more of a cross country runner and tennis player, so… don't shoot me to death. It's Japan! Maybe it's like that there!! Or maybe Naoki's a sadistic beast? Eh…

Let's get on with this next chapter my friends!

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If there was one thing that Kanbara Takuya loved about school, it was soccer. Takuya would be willing to admit that he was obsessed with the sport. He'd been playing it since the young age of five and was unable to stop playing the sport.

"You're zoning again." Takuya looked over to see Keiko looking at him as they descended the hill to the soccer fields. "You okay?"

"I'm fine, just really excited." He replied, grinning and giving the brunette a thumbs up.

"I don't know, I'm really nervous." Keiko began to fiddle with the string hanging off of her sports bag before looking at him. "There's some serious competition, you know?"

"Don't be such a worry wart." He set the bag down on the bench and began pulling his cleats on. "You'll be fine. All of our friends are here to support us, and you can't let them down, right?" He gave her a smack on the back.

"You really suck at giving advice, did you know that?" She huffily adjusted her shorts and then smiled again. "Everyone's coming?"

"Yep, I extended out invitations to the gang." He smiled at himself for a moment, proud that he had gotten everybody, even Kouji, to come along.

"Even Kouji?" Keiko asked.

"Yeah, I even got Kouji to come along."

Keiko laughed. "Yeah, I'll believe that when I see it." She brushed a piece of hair behind her ear. "Sorry about the attitude… I'm just… I'm really scared."

"But why, Keiko?" Takuya asked gently.

"Well, just… First of all, Naoki's coaching one of the teams and he's going to see the tryouts, and I'm worried that he won't think I'm good enough. And secondly-"

"Hey guys!" Tamotsu was suddenly leaned over the bench smiling. Takuya turned and noticed that Keiko was suddenly on the other side of the field. She was laying down on her stomach next to another girl who was patting her shoulder and laughing. "Jeez, Keiko's faster than I thought," he said.

The brunette shrugged and looked up at the blonde. "What's up, Tamotsu?"

"Nothing. I was just coming over to ask if you're trying out for captain." He pulled at his cleats and adjusted his shirt.

"Yeah, I think so," Takuya replied. "I don't know who else is trying to get it, though."

"I don't think anyone else could get it, you're obviously going to be the best one on the team," Tamotsu stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. It made Takuya happy.

"Alright everybody! Line up!" Takuya walked over with Tamotsu to the coach, who was Keiko's brother. He looked around at the group and his lips slightly pulled up into a smile. "As you may know, I'm coaching the seventh grade boy's team, but I'll be conducting the tryouts as well. I'm going to cut right to the chase and say that if you can't do the following, you won't make it on the team, whether or not I'm coaching." He looked around. "If you can't run three miles without stopping, leave now." A group of three girls left immediately. "Alright, if you can't shoot a ball in a goal 40 out of 50 times, leave now."

Takuya raised an eyebrow at this, about ten people left. "If you can't handle two hour practices, leave now." Only two people left this time. "Lastly, if you can't work with other people, be a team player, I want you to leave." Nobody left.

Naoki took another look around. "I want you all to divide into four groups. Seventh grade girls, seventh grade boys, eighth grade girls and eighth grade boys."

After some mumbling and moving around, the group was divided into four. Naoki raised an eyebrow. "Now, if you've played soccer for more than five years already, stand in front of me."

Takuya, along with Tamotsu, Keiko, and another girl who looked vaguely familiar stepped forward. A couple other people who looked like eighth graders stepped forward as well. "I want you all to run three miles. Stay together, you're going to run on the trails in the woods. I get the feeling that you all can run the three miles easily, but if you stop, I want you to come see me. If you make it, you can move on to the next round." He looked towards the other potential players. "The rest of you will be running two miles on the track. It'll be hard for the ones who are just starting sports, but like I said before, if you can't run three miles without stopping, then you should be gone already. Go on, I want it to be done in a half hour."

There was a cheer in the stands and Takuya turned around to see Izumi and Tomoki jumping up and down and waving their arms. "Yay! Go guys! Run! Kick butt!" they were chanting over and over.

Kouji was sitting there, emotions devoid on his face while Kouichi was smiling. Junpei was also there, clapping his hands along with Izumi and Tomoki's chanting.

Soon they were off, running through the trails in the woods. It wasn't too hard of a run, Keiko and the girl with auburn hair had lapsed into a conversation while Takuya was saying a thing or two to Tamotsu before they were comfortably silent again. Takuya was intent on remembering who the girl Keiko was talking to, when it finally hit him.

He spun around and pointed to the girl, running backwards. "Hey! You! You're that hottie from that picture! Michiko!" he exclaimed with wide brown eyes.

Michiko's eyebrows raised and soon enough Takuya tripped over a tree root, landing on his back with a thud.

"Oh no! Are you okay?" Keiko cried, kneeling down next to him.

"I'm fine, just-" there was a weird growling sound. "Did… did you guys just hear that?" Takuya asked, looking around wearily. The others had already gone ahead, only Keiko, Tamotsu and Michiko remained. "Hear what?" Michiko asked.

Takuya looked around for a moment before shrugging. "Never mind, I thought I heard something growling." He shrugged.

"You sure it wasn't your stomach?" Tamotsu asked with a raised eyebrow.

Keiko grinned. "If it were his stomach, it would be like an earthquake."

"Haha, very funny. Don't you feel bad for me? I could have died. I could have gotten a… a concussion or even a stroke." he said, narrowing his eyes.

"Takuya, you can't have a stroke for falling on your ass," Keiko said with a laugh.

"I could have gotten a heat stroke," he retorted, feeling extremely proud of himself for coming up with such a 'great' comeback. "Yeah, you guys are speechless from my wits."

"Takuya… that's-"

"No Michiko, just let him have his moment. He's earned it." Keiko said, shaking her head and smiling.

"That's right! I earned it! …Hey, what do you mean by that?!?" he demanded.

The four got back to running after some reassurance that Takuya was indeed a smart kid. Keiko and Michiko were once again involved in a deep conversation, and Tamotsu and Takuya were concentrating more on the running.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Tamotsu said suddenly. "Did you guys hear that sound?" He completely stopped running and stood still.

The others stopped as well. "What sound Tamotsu?" Keiko asked, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Shhh… Listen." He closed his eyes and the others followed. Over the sounds of leaves rustling in the wind was the sound of distinct growling. "That what you heard, Takuya?"

"Yeah. Yeah, that's what I heard." Takuya looked around.

"It doesn't sound too friendly," Michiko said, holding her arms and hugging herself a bit in fear.

"And it sounds too big to be a dog. Maybe… we should finish this up quickly. Are you guys okay to run for a few minutes and see if the growling stops?" Keiko asked.

They nodded and began to move again, this time running instead of walking. The pace wasn't frantic, but it wasn't calm either. Keiko and Michiko weren't having side conversations and Takuya's thoughts didn't revolve around the 30 minute time limit.

There was a loud howl and they all froze completely. Terror had taken them over a tad as they looked around. "Where is it coming from?" Michiko cried, close to tears.

"I-I don't know! This is weird! It's not safe here!" Keiko said, backing up into a tree.

"Let's find a way out of here, now. How far have we ran? Which way would be faster to get out of here?" Takuya asked.

"We've been running for a while, but we're definitely half way there. I saw the sign." Tamotsu looked around. "We can't cut through the trees without getting completely lost, either."

"Let's see how far we can sprint, maybe we'll lose it this time around." Takuya looked around for the affirmative nods, which all came with reluctance. "Come on."

They ran quickly, Takuya leading the pack, still the leader he always was. As they ran, he noticed something strange. Footsteps, heavy ones. And they didn't match the pace that they were running. They were much faster.

"It's following, I hear it!" Michiko gasped. They had noticed it as well and began to run faster.

The words were barely able to run through Takuya's head until he felt it. The words _'Look out!'_ didn't register until he was knocked onto the ground, rolling through the leaves.

Michiko was on the ground as well, Tamotsu and Keiko were up against a tree, clutching the bark tightly with fear. They were all staring a the large black, three headed creature in front of them.

Keiko looked over to Takuya, her eyes wide. Takuya nodded. He knew what she was thinking before she had even looked at him.

It was a Digimon.

Not just any Digimon, either, the one that he had to fight when he first got his spirit.

It was snarling, drool dripping from it's maw and onto the ground. It's eyes were wide, wild. The creature, Cerberumon, as Takuya would later remember, looked completely untamable, unstoppable.

"Michiko. Come here. Come to me." Tamotsu was gesturing for Michiko to come to their side of the path. Michiko's golden brown eyes were wide as she shook her head frantically. "Michiko," he ground out.

The brown eyes met the dark green ones and Michiko nodded. She slowly made her way over to Tamotsu and Keiko, making her way past the snarling beast. She was almost within reach of Tamotsu when Cerberumon spun around and charged into her.

With a cry, Michiko flew through the air and onto the ground. "Michiko!" Keiko cried, rushing over with Tamotsu on her tail. Michiko appeared to be unconscious, but not hurt. "I think she's out because of the shock."

"Tamotsu!" Takuya called from afar. "Get her out of here, me and Keiko will take care of this." Cerberumon was circling Takuya, but the brunette was making sure he was on the other side of him.

Tamotsu's eyes widened. "No!" He stared at the teal eyed brunette in front of him and shook his head. "I'd feel a lot more comfortable if Keiko brought Michiko back."

Keiko looked at Tamotsu. "No. You go. I'll be okay. Take her back, if there's other things around, then I wouldn't be able to defend myself. Everything'll be fine."

Tamotsu sighed. "Fine." He picked up the auburn haired girl and brought her through the trees. "You guys be careful!" he called back.

As soon as he was gone Cerberumon lunged at Takuya. Takuya wheeled to the side and fell onto his side, scrambling back up as Cerberumon tried to bite him.

"This time I won't lose! You don't have your spirits! You're mine!" The beast lunged again, missing Takuya by an inch. The wolfish Digimon tried to get to the brunette when a rock hit him in the side of the head.

"Stop it! Get away from him!" Keiko snarled.

Cerberumon growled at Keiko, "Shut up human!" It snapped angrily.

While Cerberumon and Keiko were involved in the arguing, Takuya took a moment to try to sneak past him and over to Keiko. Cerberumon sensed it and snapped his head to the side. Takuya got rammed in the side and fell down a large hill.

"Takuya!" Keiko cried.

Takuya rolled down the hill, crashing into trees and breaking sticks. He was getting scratched and ended his descent by crashing into a tree.

Cerberumon looked at Keiko. "Now it's your turn." The wolf sauntered over towards the brunette, it's claws coming out.

Meanwhile, at the bottom of the hill, Takuya was struggling to get untangled from a bush. His shorts were tangled up in the prickles and he was getting cuts all over his legs.

When he heard a blood curdling scream that sounded like Keiko, he panicked. "No!" he yelled. He kicked the bush frantically and a silver glow came from it. The light engulfed him and the familiar feeling of being Agunimon washed over him.

**Break**

"I wonder how the run's coming along," Izumi said as the five companions sat on the bench.

"They're really good runners. I'm pretty sure it won't be long now." Junpei looked towards the end of the trail.

"I just think it's pretty surprising those other two kids got out before them," Kouji said in a bored tone, leaning back and crossing one ankle over his knee. "Maybe they're not going to make the team."

"Those other kids were older, and probably on the team longer than them. It doesn't mean they're not good or anything." Kouichi narrowed his eyes at his younger twin.

"Tch." Kouji rolled his eyes.

"Hey, is that Tamotsu?" Tomoki stood up and pointed to the trees, where, sure enough, the blonde was emerging.

"Hey! He's carrying somebody," Izumi said, alarmed.

Tamotsu ran straight to Naoki saying something to him and making wild gestures with his hands. Naoki listened carefully, nodding and trying to calm the boy.

Suddenly a terrifyingly loud scream came from the forest. Naoki's eyes snapped up and he sprinted into the woods. Kouji and Kouichi stood as well. "Stay here!" Kouji said as the twins ran after Naoki.

**Break**

"Agunimon!"

The red armored Digimon leapt from the trees and up the hill. "Cerberumon! You're going down!" he yelled. He found the Digimon about to take a swipe at Keiko with it's metal arm. "Pyro darts!"

Small bits of fire flew from Agunimon's nimble fingers, hitting the Digimon in the paws. It turned it's attention to Agunimon and it's eyes widened. "You again?"

"That's right! Pyro tornado!" Agunimon spun around and kicked Cerberumon in the side of the face. Cerberumon howled and sank to the ground. Fractal code didn't surround him, this time he just turned into black smoke and drifted away into the wind. The warrior of flame reverted to Takuya just in time for Naoki to run over.

"Guys! Are you okay? Where's the dog?" he asked frantically, looking around.

"We… we got it to go away, right Takuya?" Keiko asked, looking over to the other brunette.

Kouji and Kouichi came from the trees and looked at the three. "You guys alright?" Kouichi asked.

"Yeah, did you guys get hurt or anything?" Kouji asked.

"We're fine," Takuya answered. He looked up at Naoki and smiled. "Hey, I have one quick question… did… did we make the team?"

Naoki looked at his watch. "If you can run a mile in six minutes."

With yelps, Keiko and Takuya were off and running, trying their best to concentrate on finishing this and deciding that later they would speak to the group about the attack, and another very important subject:

How Takuya managed to Digivolve without a D-tector.

**So I took a day to decide who would be the other soccer player. It was originally going to be Kouji, but can you guys really see him playing soccer running around like that? I decided on Keiko, because I recall making some statements about her playing soccer in the other story. Whelp, please review and do my poll. Thanks!**


	3. Yin and Yang

**Chapter 1 review replies:**

**Celestial writer: She so is, she's addicted to Tamotsu in a sense. Hmm… I wonder how the boys who like her will take that. Not well, we'll assume.**

**DigiLoveReader: I'm so glad you already love it! And there will be some chapters where there's POV's, just more third person chapters. I hope you don't absolutely hate it! Oh my gosh, that was an amazing compliment. It made my day that you thought that I developed the characters and didn't make the OOC. That made me soooo happy!!**

**My-little-star: I think we all suspected Izumi's bipolarness. XD Hmm, maybe Kouji **_**will **_**be jealous. Maybe even in this **_**very chapter?!?**_

**Empyrea: Thanks so much! Choco chip cookie? Thanks! :D**

**PurpleViolin: SEQUEL TIMEE!!! I'm going to assassinate the alert button some day, I swear. The thing is so unreliable. D: Keiko sure does love that Tamotsu character. I do wonder how the others will take that piece of news. :o**

**GirlsLikeeBoys: Awh! I'm glad you liked it! Yup, the bad boy Kouji certainly makes my day as well, in my pants that is. XD**

**Sydneybell24: I'm glad you liked the chapter! I try to master the bamfness of Kouji, and I'm glad you thought it was on par! :D**

**Review replies for chapter 2:**

**Celestial writer: Yep! The spirits are back with a vengeance. :D You're absolutely right! How **_**did **_**it get into the human world. Well, let's hope your questions are answered soon!**

**My-little-star: Yeah, just picturing Kouji playing soccer in my head made me giggle a bit. How did Cerberumon appear in the real world. Whelp, it'd be really cheesy if I told you in a review reply, so read on my friend! **

**GirlsLikeeBoys: Sure was!**

**Empyrea: Hmm… how did he do that… It's a mystery to me! Wait… aha, no it's not! Here's the next chapter my pretty!**

**PurpleViolin: Haha, I thought that Keiko skedaddling away would be a nice touch! And yes, Takuya Digivolved! HOW?!? . Here's your next chapter! P.S. Your reviews constantly make me smile. :D**

**Sydneybell24: That was so sweet! Thank you! And you'd better, slave! :D**

* * *

Sitting around Kouji's bedroom, the group of seven sat, eating chips and doing homework.

Popping a chip into his mouth, Takuya stood up, slamming his hands down on the desk where Kouji's computer and printer sat. "We have a situation on our hands," he announced with a gravely serious expression on his face.

Everybody stared at Takuya, watching as he looked at every person for a moment. "Obviously, Einstein. Why else would we all be here?" Kouji asked sardonically.

Takuya slowly sat down, clearing his throat. Everybody looked back down at what they were doing; Izumi and Keiko going through a science book and writing down notes; Junpei munching on his chips; Tomoki going back to a word search with historical people on it; Kouichi trying to figure out a math equation and Kouji finishing his literature terms.

"Come on you guys! Don't you see? There's Digimon in the world! _Digimon! _And you're all sitting there eating and doing homework and… Ugh!" He turned and walked over to Kouji's dresser, pulling out a shirt to change into. It was just after the soccer tryouts, and they all went back to Kouji's house to decode what was going on. Keiko had already changed into a button up shirt that Izumi had brought for Keiko, since the girls were going to hang out together anyways.

Takuya peeled off his sweaty shirt and shook his hair out. Izumi was watching with green eyes the whole time. _Jeez, he's filled out pretty well over the summer…_ That's about when she noticed something strange.

"Hey, Takuya?" Takuya looked at her. "When did you get that? And how did you convince your mom to let you get one?"

Takuya raised an eyebrow at the blonde. "Get one what?"

"A tattoo."

Takuya laughed. "Yeah right, Izumi! My mom would _never _let me get a tattoo!"

"Then what's that on your chest?" Tomoki pointed to Takuya's left pectoral, which had a symbol on it.

"What?" Takuya ran over to the Kouji's full body mirror and stared at his reflection. "How did this get here? And why is it glowing?" The tattoo was indeed glowing a silver color. It wasn't bright enough to show through clothes or anything, but the dull shine was noticeable on his bare chest.

"That sign… Isn't that the sign for Agunimon?" Kouichi asked, staring intently at the symbol.

"Then we should all have one, right?" Junpei looked at his hands then arms, trying to scope out tattoos.

"Maybe," Keiko said, tapping a pencil to her mouth, "But Takuya was the only one who's Digivolved."

"Good point. Maybe that's how you transformed in the first place," Izumi suggested.

Kouji was about to say something but he was interrupted by a crash downstairs. He growled and stood up, muttering something about a stupid dog. He opened the door and stood by the banister of the stairs. "Be quiet down there, Kiba!" Kouji yelled down the stairs.

Suddenly a German Shepherd came running up the stairs, whimpering as it jumped onto Kouji's bed where Kouichi and Junpei sat. Kouji turned around and looked at the dog. "Kiba?"

Another crash came from downstairs and everybody looked up with shocked expressions. "Nobody else is home." Kouji said, sounding suspicious.

"Th-then what made that noise?" Tomoki whimpered as he jumped onto the bed with Junpei.

"I don't know…" Kouji looked back over the banister before backing back into the room and shutting the door. He walked over to the closet and pulled out a shinai.

"Kouji? What do you think you're doing with that?" Kouichi stood up, grabbing Kouji's shoulder.

Kouji looked over at his brother. "I'm not letting anyone rob _my _family," he said gruffly as he shrugged the hand away.

"Well you're not doing it alone." Kouichi stared at his younger twin intently.

"Kouichi…"

"He's right," Keiko said. "You're not doing this alone."

"We'll go with you." Izumi stood up, Keiko following.

"Yeah! We'll work as a team." Takuya stood up as well.

"Yeah… um… I'll stay here with Kiba and Tomoki. We'll keep watch." Junpei's voice was shaky as he clutched Tomoki and the big dog.

Kouji rolled his eyes. "So the five of us will go. Come on."

The five stalked down the stairs as quietly as they could manage. Another crash was heard and Izumi clutched onto Takuya's arm. "Whatever it is, it sure sounds scary!" she whisper-shouted (I think you all know what I mean by that. :D)

Kouji was first in line and he stopped when he got to the bottom of the stairs. Kouichi was close behind him with Keiko on his trail. Takuya was second to last and Izumi was last, still clutching on to Takuya in fear. Kouji slowly crept over to where the sounds were coming from and he noticed a chair on it's side and crushed.

He slunk over to it and touched it softly. "Whoever it is must be huge. He crushed this thing like it was nothing."

"Or she," Izumi interjected.

"Or she." Kouji rolled his eyes. He pulled his hand away, but it was stuck on some dark smudge. "Eww! What the hell is that?"

He ripped his hand away, and the goop was still stuck on his fingers. "What…"

The dark substance suddenly leapt from his hand and began slithering around.

"Get it! Get it!" Takuya yelled. He tried stepping on it over and over, but it just wiggled right by his feet. The smudge spread and jumped onto his face, covering it in a sticky film. "MMPH! MGMFF! GMF!" His shouts were muffled by the goop as he struggled around and fell onto his back.

Keiko ran over and began pulling on the substance, trying to peel it off of his face. It leapt onto her arms and she screamed as she tried to get it off. Small tentacle like things were trying to get from one arm to the other to connect her arms together.

"Don't move!" Suddenly Kouji was there, shinai in hand and ready to hit the thing. Keiko closed her eyes tightly and pulled her arms as far apart as she could. Kouji hit the smudge right between her arms, causing the thing to fall apart into two pieces.

Silence filled the room as the five watched the substance sitting there, completely still. Izumi backed into a wall, trying to regain her breath. The goo jumped back up, both pieces alive and one piece dragged itself up the stairs while the other slid into the kitchen.

"Holy sh-"

Kouji didn't even have time to finish his vulgar phrase, because a scream was suddenly ringing through the room. The wall was covered in the stuff, and Izumi was getting dragged into the wall by it.

"It's everywhere!" Keiko wailed, and she was correct, the smudge was coming out of the walls, trailing over the floors and getting all over the furniture. It was sliding down the staircase, and while it had the consistency of mud, it was sticky.

Takuya and Kouji pulled Izumi off of the wall while Keiko and Kouichi were fighting off the muck that was crawling up their legs.

"What is this?!? Is it a Digimon!?!" Kouichi questioned as he ripped the mud off of his thigh.

"I don't know! But this sure as hell shouldn't be happening normally!" Keiko kicked a slab across the room and into a wall, where it joined with all the other slime.

"Tomoki and Junpei! They're still upstairs! What if they're in trouble?" Takuya cried. "I'm going to go get them! Keiko, you come with me!"

Keiko and Takuya ran up the stairs, holding onto the railing as they tried to get up the stairs without falling.

"Phone… Phone! We need to call the police or the fire department or someone!" Izumi said, clawing at her shorts pocket to try and get her cell phone.

"What good would that do?" Kouji demanded, grabbing her wrist.

"It couldn't hurt!" Kouichi interjected.

"Crap! I left my phone in the kitchen!" Izumi cried, as muck began filling up the house. It was now up to their knees.

"There's a phone in the living room, that door to the left!" Kouji pointed to a doorway, which led to a large living area. "Come on!"

**

* * *

**

"Tomoki! Junpei!" Takuya ran as fast as he could, Keiko on his heels to the bedroom which was right by the staircase. "Tomoki! Junpei! Are you guys okay?" he yelled.

He tried to pull the door open, but it was caked over in muck and wouldn't budge. Takuya kicked the door as hard as he could and it swung open, revealing a room filled with the goo. Tomoki and Junpei were nowhere to be found.

A hand made of muck came out of the pile and launched itself at Takuya. "Takuya no!" Keiko cried.

She grabbed the back of his shirt and pushed him out of the way, getting grabbed and dragged in herself, the door slamming shut behind her.

Takuya, due to the sheer force that Keiko pushed him, tumbled down the stairs on his back. When he slammed into the wall at the bottom he looked up to see that the door was not longer open and completely covered with muck. "Keiko!"

**

* * *

**

"Reach Kouji!" Izumi said encouragingly as the muck rose up to her thighs.

Kouji finally got to the phone, but lo and behold, it wasn't on the hook. "Where the hell is it?"

"We can go to the kitchen and get my phone!" Izumi said. She began to go past Kouji and through the dining room to get to the kitchen. With muddy hands she tied her hair up in a loose ponytail and then pushed past the table and chairs to get to the kitchen, the twins right behind.

"There it is!" Kouichi said, pointing to the kitchen counter where the black cell phone sat.

Izumi waded through the muck and grabbed the phone with dirty fingers. Just as she opened the phone it slipped from her grasp and landed in the gooey depths. "No!" she wailed.

She got down onto her knees and frantically searched for the phone. The mud was starting to travel up her arms and around her neck, trying to pull her under. She began struggling and she grabbed onto the edge of the kitchen counter to pull herself up.

Kouji and Kouichi tried to get over to help, but soon enough she was completely under. "No! Izumi!" Kouji yelled. He grabbed under the muck in the area that the blonde fell, but she was completely gone.

"Keiko!" a voice cried from the other room. Kouji and Kouichi tried to get over to the door that led to the hall and the staircase, and when they did Takuya was laying there, trying to fight off the goo that was holding him on the ground.

"Takuya!" Kouji tried to get there on time, but with a cry of terror from Takuya, he was completely covered. The muck moved around for a minute and when it cleared away he was gone.

"What is going _on _here, why-"

"Kouichi!"

Mud wrapped around Kouichi's waist and was dragging him away from his twin. "Kouichi!"

Kouji reached out his hand, which Kouichi grabbed. Now Kouji was being dragged in the opposite direction. The twins held onto each other, letting go for nothing.

"Kouji…"

"Kouichi!"

Where their hands were linked up began to glow and soon, they were both engulfed by blinding light.

"Lobomon!"

"Lowemon!"

The warriors of darkness and light emerged from the glow an they floated to the ground. "Come on! We need to figure out how to end this!" Lobomon shouted.

"Lobo Kendo!"

"Shadow Meteor!"

The muck dissipated in the areas that Lobomon and Lowemon hit. "Great!" Lowemon said happily.

The muck began to concentrate in one area, all piling up together to form a large mound. It grew eyes and a gaping mouth.

"Hey! That's Raremon!" Lobomon pointed with his silver armored finger.

"Acid sludge!" The Digimon shot sludge from it's mouth and it was aimed for Lobomon and Lowemon. They dodged the attack and at the same time, hit the creature with their combined attack.

"Howling laser!"

"Shadow lance!"

The attacks hit the sludge Digimon and he began disintegrating into a black smoke, wailing as he turned into nothing.

The sludge that had flooded the room all disappeared and slowly, the rooms turned back to normal as if nothing had happened.

A groan was heard and the twins looked over to see Takuya sitting at the bottom of the stairs, where he disappeared. "Hey guys…" he said with a weak smile and a wave.

"You okay, Takuya?" Kouichi asked.

Takuya didn't get the chance to answer because a very tired looking blonde opened the door from the kitchen and walked in. She looked around for a moment, "That was weird…" she muttered.

"Where're the others?" Kouji said.

Kouichi, followed by Kouji, Takuya and Izumi walked up the stairs and towards Kouji's bedroom. The door flew open and Keiko flew out. Tomoki flew out after her and then Junpei landed on top of the both. "Get off!" Keiko gasped as her face turned red from lack of air.

Junpei scurried off with a muttered apology. "Sorry, Kei…"

Keiko touched her shoulder and winced when she pulled her finger back and it was covered in blood. "Ouch…"

"What happened?" Kouji asked.

"I think I caught the edge of the desk when I got pulled in," the brunette explained as she put her hand over her shoulder, shutting her eyes in pain.

"Lemme see." Kouichi moved behind Keiko and Keiko began to unbutton the shirt.

"I've got a tank top on under this," she muttered as she slowly peeled it off.

Kouichi assisted her in removing the offending article of clothing and he looked at the injury closely. "Small cut, but there's a lot of blood. Why don't I help you clean it up in the bathroom?" he suggested kindly.

"Sure, thanks Kouichi." she smiled.

"Hey, thanks Keiko," Takuya said. Keiko turned and raised her eyebrows. "You know, for saving me back there."

"You're welcome Takuya," she said, offering a little smile.

They looked at each other for a few moments, just staring at the other. They both had smiles on their faces. Kouji cleared his throat and Izumi rolled her eyes with a scoff. The two brunettes blushed in tandem and Kouichi walked away with Keiko.

"What was that?" Izumi asked as soon as Keiko and Kouichi were out of earshot.

"What?"

"That look you two gave each other." Izumi looked a bit angry. "Do you two have something going on that I don't know about, or what?"

"Jeez, why are you so angry? It was just a look." Takuya raised his hands up in surrender.

"Seemed like more than a _look." _Kouji grumbled lowly.

Takuya was about to retort something when Keiko and Kouichi rushed back out. "Guys! Look!"

He turned Keiko around and pointed to her shoulder blade, where the symbol of love was drawn on it.

* * *

Ahaha, sort of a cliff hanger going on there. Anyway, read, review, vote, yadda yadda.


	4. Interview 1: Junpei

So this is a new thing I decided I was going to do. Each character is going to give their thoughts on all the other characters. I'm only going to do this when I post up a chapter, so these are going to come along with each update. I won't try to pass these off as chapters, because that would be totally wrong in so many ways. :D Now, you'll see it with Junpei, you'll see it with all the characters: They all have insecurities with each other. Every single pair you put together, whether it be Izumi and Tomoki, or Kouichi and Takuya, they all aren't perfect friends who have no problems. I'm not at all starting conflicts just by these character talks, but I'm sure you've all wondered what they think of each other in my little brain, right?

**

* * *

**

Interview 1: Junpei

**Tomoki:**

Jeez, Tomoki's… cool. He's just… young. But we get along surprisingly well considering that fact. He's mature for his age, or at least after the whole Digital World thing he's been more mature. I've noticed that the kid is always sticking around me. Not that I mind or anything, but sometimes I almost feel like I'm becoming more like a kid from being around him. But why would I want to leave him alone? He's sweet and he's becoming brave. He reminds me a lot of Takuya. But I wonder, if I'm always around the kid, why is _Takuya _his role model?

**Kouichi:**

Kouichi's really nice. He's always been a good guy. I mean, it's like everyone wants to be his friend. And I mean everyone. Jeez, I'm trying to think of what to say about him. He and Izumi get along really well. A little _too _well… No, I don't think he would do that to me. We're friends, right? …Right?

**Kouji:**

Kouji's gotten better. I still have some problems with him though. He's just so… I don't know, vain I think. He's such a pretty boy, or at least he puts himself off to be that way. Now, don't get me wrong, Kouji's saved my ass several times and he's always been cool about it, but really, I wonder what goes through that head of his. I wonder sometimes if he does it for him, or for the recognition… He's definitely changed though. I think he's starting to really care about other people, although his cares seem to center around his brother, and maybe Takuya. He's definitely better than he used to be, though.

**Keiko:**

Keiko's really nice. I mean, really nice. Probably one of the nicest people I've met. She tends to care about other people way more than herself, and I think she's adorable. And her eyes are cool. But in all honesty, I'm waiting for the day that she turns on us… I don't think it's going to happen any time soon. But it'll happen. I mean, she's rich, pretty, athletic… I sometimes wonder if she's just putting up a façade to be friends with us then she'll just turn around and tell everyone our secrets and ruin us. I don't know, she just seems like she'd be a queen bee like that… But she's a great girl and I try to realize that she wouldn't do anything to intentionally hurt us… I hope.

**Takuya:**

Takuya… We've become closer than we used to be… and he's a cool guy, but really? I'm totally jealous of him. Completely and utterly jealous. I mean, look at him. He's this tan, funny, white smiled, brave, good looking guy and he totally has Izumi liking him. He's so… perfect. He has the life that I'd always want to have, and… I don't know, who wouldn't want to be him? He's the athlete of the school, oh and did I mention that Izumi likes him? And he doesn't even like her back! Come on, that's not right! She should be with me, not with him! It just makes me so frustrated.

**Izumi:**

It's pretty obvious the way that I feel about Izumi. She's drop dead gorgeous. She's funny, kind, has a wonderful personality… She's perfect. Her eyes are so so so beautiful, green… Ahh, she's just amazing. She makes the room light up every time she walks into it, her hair is the color of gold, her skin is smooth and perfect. She's tall and Amazonian in a sense. Gosh, who doesn't like Izumi? She's always finding ways to make me happy and I'm just waiting for the day that I faint with shock when I see her. Just thinking about her now is making me blush. She's so pretty and she's frickin awesome and… Why can't she like me? I'm pretty sure she knows that I like her, but really, why doesn't she see that I'm perfect for her. I know everything about her. Her favorite colors: pink and purple. Favorite food: Agnolotti. Best friend: Keiko. Shampoo: Cherry. And she puts lemon juice in it for shine. Height: Exactly five feet and five eighths of an inch. I KNOW IZUMI. Sometimes, though, I wonder if she's just playing games with me. I know that she cares about me, but not as anything more than a friend. And it hurts…


	5. The Way You Move Me

**Chapter 3 review replies:**

**PurpleViolin: Haha, I know, the twins were like "BAM BOOM!" Totally epic, my friend. Aha, I want a tattoo on my shoulder blade, but the Keiko muse took it from me. :/ But I always wanted like a small Chinese symbol or something. :D Oh yes! THE LOOK!!! Does it mean something is brewing?? *faints* Thanks so much for the review! :D**

**My-little starr: Ahaha, oh Kouji, you're such a paranoid man baby. :D I know! They're like siblings! OR ARE THEY?!? :O Oh yes, there is certainly some chemistry between Takuya and Izumi, right? It's definitely on senor. XD Thanks for the review!**

**GirlsLikeeBoys: Yes siree bob, there is surely some jealousy. Not okay. :D Oh, don't you worry my albino lover, there will be some serious drama/conflict/your mom in this. xD Thanks for taking the time to review!**

**Sydneybell24: You're right, the mud was all whoosh and stuff, whatever that means. xD YEAH IT'S ON!! I'm getting all tingly just thinking about the shit I'm about to put them all through. Thanks for reviewing. :D**

**Chapter 4 review replies:**

**Celestial writer: I know, Junpei def has some issues as far as romance goes. I hope he finds a nice chica too! That'd be adorable. :D You'll see soon my friend. :F Thanks so much for reviewing.**

**Momentai35: Thanks so much for reviewing! I'm glad you like the story.**

**Agoodcupoftea: I know! Thanks for reviewing!**

**PurpleViolin: AH! You reviewed twice! Thanks for that! :D I'm glad you like the idea, it kind of just popped out of nowhere when I was off guard and it was all "HEY!!! THIS IS GOOD!!! LISTEN TO ME!!!" and it actually seems to be working out! :D Oh yeah, Junpei is a bit of a stalker. Heehee. I'm so glad yoyu liked it and I hope you enjoy these just as much! :D**

**My-little starr: I know! Junpei is a meanie head for thinking that… or is he clairvoyant? Let's hope that for the group's sanity that he's not! But then again, why would he just say something like that and not mean anything by it. Junpei's not too quick to accuse… Oh jeez. :P Yessirrr! Junpei thinks Izumi likes Takuya! :D So cuteeee. I'm glad you liked it! Thanks for reviewing! (TWICE!!! :D)**

**Empyrea: Thanks so much! I tried not to make Junpei too harsh or OOC or anything. Yep yep! Symbols and signs! (S&S :F) Patterns patterns? We'll have to see! TWO COOKIES! Thanks so much! I'm glad you liked it! :D Thanks for the review dearie.**

**GirlsLikeeBoys: Yeah, it's pretty sad, huh? :/ But let's hope that he can move forward and open up! :D Thanks for the review!**

**Sydneybell24: I'm glad you liked them! Keiko's and Izumi's are going to be epic intense KABLAMM!! So I tend to use caps a lot when I reply to your reviews? Yeahh, I think sooo… Huh… Anyway, Junpei is a major stalker son, and he's proud of it. :F I think? Am I foreshadowing? Hmm. Can't tell! BD Haha, Junpei thinks that Kouji is a pretty boy because Kouji **_**is **_**a pretty boy. Hohoo. :F Junpei is a jealous wretch and I'm going to take him down. Aah, no I'm not… Sorry, I'm soooo tired I can't even think. So yeah, conflict is coming, thanks for reviewing, enjoy the next chapter, you're awesome. I think we covered the basics. :D**

Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! We've got some serious pwnage on the polls, it's like, insaneee. Thank you all for voting by the by. :D I hope you enjot the chapter!

* * *

Orimoto Izumi sighed as she unlocked the door to her house. Just a half hour ago she came from Kouji's house after the little incident with all the mud and goo. She shivered at the thought of it.

After they found out Keiko had a tattoo, the found everybody else's. Kouichi had the symbol of darkness on the back of his neck; Kouji had the symbol of light on his lower back, right below where the waistband of his boxers started (the girls squealed at the sheer amount of sexiness); Tomoki had one on the inside of his wrist; Junpei had one on his ankle; and Izumi had one on the inside of her thigh.

Izumi walked into her the threshold of the house, her mother smiling at her when she walked in. "Hi sweetheart, how was your friend's house?"

"It was good," she said, taking off her shoes and walking through the kitchen and dining room to get to the stairs.

"Dinner will be ready at six!" she called.

"Okay!"

Izumi walked down the hall and into her room, closing the door behind her and sighing. What was that look about? Does Takuya like Keiko? Does Keiko like Takuya? Izumi let out an indignant noise and plopped herself down on her bed.

What happened to the flirting that Takuya gave _her? _And the looks that _she _got? Keiko was stealing her guy! Izumi launched herself into a sitting position. That was it! Keiko was taking Takuya! And… maybe he liked _her _now…

Izumi sniffled and picked up her phone, punching in Kouichi's number.

"_Hello?"_

"Hi Kouichi. It's Izumi."

"_Oh hey, Izumi. How are you?"_

"I'm fine. I just… do you know if… if Keiko likes Takuya?"

"_What?"_

"Well, she tells you a lot… Does she? I won't tell her you told me."

"_She never said anything about it, Izumi. She's always been sort of quiet about that kind of thing. Well, besides the fact that she likes Tamotsu, but that's pretty obvious."_

"Yeah… I don't know. You know that I like Takuya… kinda… when he's not acting like an idiot and stuff."

"_You're a really nice girl, Izumi. He'd be stupid not to like you."_

"But that's just it! I'm a 'really nice girl' but I'm not sexy! No, I'm totally done with this good girl image! I'm going to be really sexy when I come to school Monday! Thanks Kouichi! Bye!"

"_Izumi wai-"_

With that, Izumi hung up the phone, and over the weekend, she came up with her foolproof plot.

* * *

"Where's Izumi?" Takuya asked, leaning against a locker next to Keiko's.

"I don't know. She's never late meeting us here…" Keiko said, getting onto her tiptoes to put her lunch on a shelf in her locker.

"Guys… I think I should tell you something…"

Kouichi didn't even get the chance, due to what caught everybody's eye.

Izumi walked down the hall wearing a short pink skirt and a garter. She wore a scoop neck tank top that revealed her navel and a few bangle bracelets. Her hair was going down her back and it had a red streak in it. She looked… good. **(1)**

She stopped at the locker, on hand on her hip and she winked. "Hey boys."

"Wow Izumi…" Kouji said, staring at her.

Junpei nodded. "Y-yeah… wow…"

Takuya wiped drool off his face. "Yeah, you look really really-"

"Hot," All three said at once.

Keiko looked a little bit taken aback while Kouichi seemed more concerned.

"Aww, thank you all," she said with a giggle, winking at them again. "You all look pretty good yourselves."

She pulled a lollipop from her black purse and put it in her mouth, licking it slowly. "Mmm, I love cherry flavored," she almost moaned.

"Ahem… I've got to go _now," _Kouji said, waddling away and looking extremely uncomfortable in that particular pair of pants.

"Heh… me too," Takuya said, running away.

Junpei just kept staring, and when Izumi licked the red lollipop again, blood spurted from his nose and he ran down the hall as well.

"Hmm, didn't know they were such _boys…_" Izumi sighed. She looked at Kouichi. "So Kouichi, do _you_ like the new me?"

Kouichi clenched his hand into a fist and he shook his head angrily. "Aww! You don't?" Izumi pouted, running a finger down his cheek. "Can't we fix that?"

Kouichi glared at her before his face relaxed and he sighed. He stared at her for a moment before looking at Keiko for a moment. Keiko sighed and looked at the floor. She closed her eyes and when she opened them, Izumi and Kouichi were walking down the hall together.

Yes, Kouichi liked Izumi a little bit. And when she finally paid attention to him, he completely took advantage of that.

Keiko withered away a little bit inside.

* * *

"And then I said, that's not a lamb, that's my grandmother!" Junpei said, and everybody besides Keiko laughed hard.

"Oh, Junpei, you're so funny!" Izumi said.

"I-I have a joke!" Takuya said.

"Me too!" Kouji and Kouichi cried.

Keiko stared down at her lunch while everybody tried to get Izumi's attention. "Okay… well I'm going to go sit with Michiko, if anyone cares," she said, standing up.

Nobody even paid attention to her. "I probably won't be coming back this week…" Still, everybody ignored the teal eyed brunette. "Or this month…" Nobody even looked her way. "Or _year…" _Keiko sighed.

She walked away from the table and across the room to where she knew her auburn haired friend was sitting.

"Hey Keiko!" she said happily, smiling at her.

"Hey, Michiko. Can I sit here?" she asked.

"Of course you can!"

The table was already crowded with jocks, but they happily made room for Keiko, all crowing her name happily.

"Why didn't you come sit with us earlier?" Tamotsu asked.

"I don't know. But I'm definitely glad that I am now." she said, smiling.

A football player named Hotaka laughed. "We all are!" He winked at her playfully.

Keiko smiled at him. "Good."

* * *

After soccer practice Keiko waited outside of the school for Takuya. It was his turn to give a ride home.

Finally she spotted a head of messy brown hair. "Takuya!" she called and ran over to him.

He was walking with Izumi, who was apparently chatting him up. "Takuya?" she asked softly.

"Oh, hey Keiko! I'm going with Izumi today. So I can't give you a ride home. Sorry about that!" he said carelessly.

"Takuya, I don't have a ride home now… Everybody's already left…" she said sadly.

"Sorry, I'm sure the janitor can give you a ride home or something." Takuya waved the whole situation off. Didn't he even care?

"B-but… Izumi, can you give me a ride?" Keiko asked desperately.

"Oh, sorry sweetheart! We're going straight to my house! You can get a ride home with the janitor, just like Taku suggested!" she said, pinching Keiko's cheek.

They walked off then, leaving her in the dust. They got into Izumi's mother's car, where she stared at Keiko. "Hey, isn't that Keiko? Does she need a ride?"

"Nope, her brother's just running a little late today," Izumi lied, buckling her seatbelt.

Takuya stared at her, confused as to why she was lying. "Sorry cutie, but the faster we get home, the faster we can hang out." Izumi smiled.

"Right…" Takuya said, watching Keiko as they drove away.

Keiko sighed and reached into her sports bag, pulling out her cell phone. She flipped it open, only to find that the battery was dead.

"Shit…" she groaned, looking up at the sky. Oh well, it couldn't get any worse…

Thunder clapped and suddenly it was pouring out. Keiko screamed out very unbecoming phrases to the sky and she began to stomp home, getting completely drenched in the process.

* * *

"Hey Keiko! You're a little bit late," Keiji said from the stove where he and a girl were cooking dinner.

Keiko made an angry sound in her throat as she threw her wet cleats into the closet door.

"Kei- oh my god! What happened to you?!?" Keiji exclaimed.

"Stupid Takuya decided to go home with Izumi, who's a _**SLUT **_and leave me to walk home! Izumi wouldn't even give me a ride when she knew I needed one ad everybody else was already gone!" she ranted pulling off her dripping wet socks and shaking her hair out.

"Man, sorry Keiko. She's a bitch…" Keiji huffed."Keiji!" the girl exclaimed.

Keiko looked at the girl and realized that it was Ayaka, Naoki's secretary. "Ayaka?"

Ayaka and Keiji laughed, scratching the back of their heads. "Yeah… we're kind of…"

"URGH!!!" Keiko cried, kicking the doorway angrily. She regretted it seconds later when she was gripping her foot, jumping up and down and holding her injured toe.

She walked down the hall angrily and went up the stairs, shutting the door and running to her bed. She sighed once she was in the sheets, her dog Pacino right next to her.

When Ayaka came up and asked if she wanted dinner, she said no. She just laid in her blankets, trying to keep her mind off of what was happening to her friends.

In the morning, Keiko was still awake, and when she went downstairs to get breakfast, Naoki told her to go back to sleep.

She simply went back and slept, not even arguing with him.

* * *

At around three in the afternoon, Keiko woke up to the sound of a doorbell. Saburo was probably still at school and as far as she knew, Naoki and Keiji were still at the office, working.

She walked down the stairs, Mister Boots at her side and opened the door to see Kouji standing there with her books.

"Haruno-sensei told me to bring your work home. Where were you?" he asked.

"I didn't feel good," Keiko said, taking the books from him. "Thanks."

"You look fine to me," Kouji observed.

"Well I'm not. I didn't get to sleep last night," she said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Why?" he asked, leaning against the doorframe.

"Just because." Keiko huffed and walked into the house, leaving the door open as an invitation for him to come in. She sat on the couch of the living room and Kouji sat on the coffee table across from it.

"There's got to be a reason that you didn't sleep," Kouji said. "Is something wrong?"

Keiko stared at him, then looked down at her hands. "No."

"Yes there is," Kouji replied.

"Kouji… Did you notice me leave at lunch yesterday?" she asked slowly.

"You didn't leave at lunch. You were there the whole time," he said, furrowing his eyebrows.

"No… I left the table. I went to sit with Michiko because you were all ignoring me," she said.

"We weren't ignoring you Keiko," Kouji said in a more gentle tone.

"Yes you were." She snapped her head up and looked him right in the eye. "You and Junpei and the rest of you were all over Izumi, just because she got a makeover! You guys completely ignored me and pretended like I didn't even exist! Just because I didn't dress all sexily and provocatively doesn't mean I'm invisible!"

"Keiko, where is all of this coming from?" Kouji asked.

"It's coming from a place where I've been hiding and I'm really… I'm really tired of it Kouji. I'm tired of being the ugly one…" she said.

"What? Keiko, you're not ugly. If it means anything, I think you're prettier than Izumi," Kouji said.

"Then why did you all-"

"Because Izumi looked better than you yesterday," Kouji said bluntly. "Really, we all think you're both pretty, but she's becoming… That's just how guys are Keiko, they just…"

They were silent for a moment and Keiko looked up. "All of you like Izumi now. Don't you?"

Kouji looked at her. "I know Takuya does, and Junpei. I think that Kouichi does-"

"He does."

"-And well… I… I'm starting to like her more… maybe I do like her…"

"_Just because she dressed like that?_"Keiko yelled, standing up angrily.

"No! You don't get it Keiko!" he yelled back, standing up as well. He was surprised at her outburst.

"I do get it! Why? Why when she acts like some stupid _whore-_"

"She's not a whore!"

"-you all act like the world revolves around _**her**_?!?"

"Why are you acting so jealous?!? Just because we don't act like you're the best like everybody else in the fucking s_chool _does, you freak out and accuse us of not caring about you!"

"That's not _**IT!!!**_" she yelled.

"It _**is **_Keiko! I'm not the only one who feels that way! The world doesn't revolve around you, you know!"

"I never said it did!"

"You didn't have to!"

"Kouji, you don't get it!"

"I do, Keiko! What happened to you? Why do you have to act selfish about this? I'm sorry that we all like Izumi more than you but-" Kouji froze, realizing what he said. "Oh… Keiko… shit, I."

"Go."

"What?" he asked.

"Go away, Kouji," she said, glaring at him angrily.

"Keiko, I didn't mean that-"

"GO _**AWAY!!!**_" she screamed.

Kouji stared for a moment before walking out of the house.

Keiko looked at her hands for a while before going back upstairs and going back to sleep.

* * *

"We yelled at each other," was the first thing that left Minamoto Kouji's mouth when he got to Kouichi's apartment.

"You what?" Kouichi demanded.

"We got into an argument and I said some really stupid things, that's what," he growled, moving into the apartment and plopping himself down on the couch.

"What did you say?" Kouichi asked gently, sitting next to his brother.

Kouji pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed. "I told her that I was sorry that we all liked Izumi more than her."

"Wow…" Kouichi said.

"Yeahhh…"

"Well, what do we do now?" Kouichi asked with a trace of panic in his voice.

"I don't think she going to come to school tomorrow. She didn't come in today because she didn't go to sleep last night, thinking about how we ignored her or something."

"We didn't ignore her."

"Apparently she left the lunch table without us even noticing…"

"Wow."

"You said that already."

"What else did you say?"

"I don't even know… It was just a dumb argument," he groaned.

"Do you feel bad about it?" Kouichi asked softly.

Kouji looked at his twin, blinking twice.

"Kouichi, I..."

* * *

Keiko woke up the next morning with a scratchy throat and a headache of epic proportions. She took some ibuprofin from the cabinet in her bathroom then took a shower before school.

Naoki didn't want her to go again, saying she still looked exhausted, but Keiko figured that she couldn't run away from her feelings forever.

"Bye Naoki," Keiko said as she got out of the car.

"Go to the nurses office if you don't feel well, Keiko. I'll come and pick you up," he said.

"I will," she replied as she grabbed her bag.

"Promise?"

She smiled at the worry look on her brother's face. "I promise. Bye."

She walked to her locker, where unsurprisingly nobody was waiting for her. She sighed and opened her locker, grabbing her books.

"Hey."

Keiko turned around to see Hotaka, one of the guys from the lunch table standing behind her. "Oh, hi," she said with a smile.

"Are you sitting at our lunch table today?" he asked.

Keiko saw Izumi, wearing a short red dress walk by with Takuya and Junpei on her sides, trying to get her attention. Kouji and Kouichi walked behind. Kouji was staring at the floor with his hands in his pockets and Kouichi was talking to him softly. They didn't even look over at her.

"Yeah. I think I will," she said.

* * *

At lunch, Kouichi noticed, Keiko didn't even show up.

"Where is she?" Kouichi asked, looking at Keiko's seat sadly.

"Who?" Izumi asked.

"Keiko," Kouichi clarified.

"Where is she, she didn't even say she wasn't sitting with us," Takuya said.

"She's been really upset," Kouji muttered.

"Why?" Junpei asked.

"Did you guys notice that she left the lunch table yesterday and we didn't even say anything?" Kouichi asked.

"Or the fact that we've all been fawning over Izumi and ignoring her completely?" Kouji added.

"No… I didn't even notice," Junpei said.

"Me neither," Takuya agreed.

"Guys? I… I kind of did," Izumi said, looking down at the table sadly.

"What?" Kouichi asked.

"I just… I thought that Takuya liked Keiko and Kouji liked Keiko and Kouichi and… well, not Junpei… but I thought that maybe if I changed a little bit that you all would like me more than her," Izumi said, looking down at her hands.

"That's not true, Izumi. I think it's obvious that we all… ahem… you know, like you…" Takuya said, his face turning red. "Yeah, I mean, Junpei obviously likes you, and Kouichi," Kouichi turned red a little bit too, "and Kouji…" Kouji looked off to the side, his face shading a bit.

"Really?" Izumi asked, her eyes lighting up.

"Really," Takuya said, smiling.

* * *

Keiko walked home once again when Takuya didn't show up to pick her up from practice. Thankfully it didn't rain this time, but her feet were killing her and by the time she got home, they were aching steadily.

She walked up the stairs after a greeting from her Keiji, and a returning Ayaka. As she approached her room she heard whispering and soft giggling. "Ugh, Naoki, is Mister Boots having another-"

"SURPRISE!!!"

"Tea… party…?"

"WE LOVE YOU KEIKO!!!"

There standing in her room, Izumi in the middle with a little cake in her hand and everybody else on her sides.

"Wow… what's this?" Keiko asked slowly, looking around at everybody standing up.

"Well, we just wanted to let you know we all love you," Junpei said, smiling.

"And we care," Kouji added quietly.

"And no matter how sexily Izumi dresses we'll always be friends!" Takuya said. Everybody stared at him. "Okay… that didn't come out right." He rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, I won't be dressing like that for a very long time. I'm much more mature now!" Izumi said happily, grinning at the brunette.

"You guys…" Keiko said softly.

"I mean, what would our group be if we didn't have you around?" Kouichi asked.

Keiko let out a laugh and ran up to Izumi, hugging her tightly. "I missed you," she said softly.

Izumi smiled. "I missed you too, Keiko."

Keiko moved to Junpei, hugging him with a laugh. She hugged Kouichi, and he whispered a sorry in her ear. She got a hug from Takuya, who twirled her around once.

"Maybe you should dress provocatively for a couple days too," he muttered.

Keiko laughed and pushed him away. She was about to give Kouji a hug, but she stopped short, figuring he didn't like to be touched. She cleared her throat and put her hand out for him to shake.

He shook her hand stiffly then pulled her into an awkward one-sided hug. "Sorry for yelling at you," he said.

"Sorry for yelling back," she said softly and hugged back a little before pulling away.

"Let's have cake!" Junpei yelled.

"Hey, why didn't you all invite Tomoki?" Keiko asked.

"Oh shit…"

* * *

"Actually yes, I _do _like butterscotch," Tomoki said slyly leaning back into his seat and sipping on his soda.

"When Tamotsu said I got a blind date, I figured it'd be someone my age…" Michiko said softly.

"Trust me baby, I look young, but I'm 27," Tomoki lied.

"No you're not."

"Oh, but I am… I'm also 27 inches-"

"No, no, no, _no_!!!"

"Taller than Shaquille O'Neal. Jeez, what did you think I was going to say you pervert?"

* * *

Thanks for reading! Please take five seconds to review. I don't even care if it's one word, anything, good, bad, construtive, would make me work that much harder.

**(1) They're 11 year olds. I don't want to make her a whore when she's that young..**


	6. Interview 2: Tomoki

I'm sorry this one sucks everyone! I've really never been able to nail Tomoki's character though. :(**

* * *

**

**Interview 2: Tomoki**

**Kouichi:**

I like Kouichi. He's really nice and caring. He's really cool, but I never really talk to him that much. I kind of think that he's avoiding me. I'm just a kid, why would he want to really hang out with me and talk to me?

**Kouji:**

Kouji used to be really mean to me, and he used to call me a baby and a spoiled brat. He was a big bully. He's changed, but sometimes I think that he'll just go back to the way he was and start doing mean things again. I know he still thinks I'm immature, but I try to be older and stuff to make him like me…

**Keiko:**

Keiko's nice, and I think she's really pretty. I've never really had any complaints about her, except that maybe she's just a little bit sad. I don't know, I think that maybe she feels left out sometimes, because whenever we talk about our parents or complain, she gets sad and says that we should never say bad things about our moms and dads. I feel bad.

**Izumi:**

Izumi's cool. She's nice to me, and whenever people were mean she would stand up for me and tell everybody to stop. She's a good person. Maybe sometimes she's a little bit bossy, though. She likes to be a leader a lot, and sometimes it gets a little annoying…

**Junpei:**

Junpei's probably one of my very best friends. He always hangs out with me and I think he really cares. He sometimes acts a little bit sarcastic, but he's definitely nice. I just… sometimes I think that he was only friends with me in the Digital World because Keiko hung out with Izumi and Takuya with Kouji, and later, Kouji, Kouichi and Takuya. Maybe it's just me being weird, but I thought that maybe he was just using me because he didn't have anyone else. But that's not true… right?

**Takuya:**

Takuya's awesome! He's really great. I want to be just like him when I get older. He's good at soccer, and just about everything else. He's super brave and he's right about everything. He's just… awesome… I think I already said that, but it's true. So yeah… But I don't know if he really likes being around me. Really though? Who wants to waste their time with some dumb kid?


	7. Don't Panic, We're All Together

**Review replies for chapter 5:**

**My-little starr: Yeah, that was pretty sad how nobody noticed her leave, huh? Aha, the argument was epic, and I love what you said about Kouji and Keiko L-O-V-Eing each other. xD I like, finished the whole thing, then I realized Tomoki wasn't in it at all and I was like "Darn it." so I gave him his little thing at the end. :D Your review was so long and amazing! Thanks so much! :D**

**Momentai35: Oh yeah, it was like, intensity to the max. :D Haha, yep, Tomoki's pretty special! I'm so glad you liked the chapter and thank you for the review! :D**

**PurpleViolin: Yeahh, Izumi was like, god in that chapterr. :P Yep, the hugs definitely made me smile. :D I'm glad you liked it! Yeah, Keiko did overreact, I tried to make it so that they were both wrong and you didn't know who to side with. :P Oh yes, Tomoki's a lady killer. :D Thanks for the review! They always make me smile. :D**

**Sydneybell24: Wow! Your review was sooo long! Thank you so much! Yeah, Izumi was like, a freaking model and the guys were suddenly very uncomfortable in their pants. :D Good timeesss. It was sad when everybody didn't notice her leave, boohooo. And then Keiko had to watch her brother with the girl! :P How sad. Haha, jealous hillbilly? That was great, and I'm glad you liked the argument, thanks for what you said, it was really sweet! Ahaha, you're the only one who noticed I left you all hanging there. :F Hotaka is… well you'll see. :D Yep, maneater Izumi, ALL the guys like her. Waah. I'm glad you liked the hug too! :D Thanks for the review, it was really nice!**

**Empyrea: I'm glad you liked the way it ended. Hehe, Tomoki and Michiko's conversation was kind of there to get Tomoki in this chapter. :F Thanks for the reviews and the cookies! :D**

**GirlsLikeeBoys: Ahaha, "That's not a lamb, that's my grandmother!" xD What a world. :F I'm glad you liked it alpha. Well, boys will be boys, and obviously they were in this one. Hehe, Kouji's a cutie, you're right. xD Thanks for the review! :D**

**Chapter 6 review replies:**

**My-little starr: Aww, thanks for reviewing twice! :D Tomoki's adorable, I have to agree. :F Aww, thanks for saying I nailed it! I was worried that I didn't get him in character, since pretty much the last chapter was OOC to the max. Thanks so much! :D**

**Momentai35: Thank you for reviewing again! :D Tomoki's a little insecure, huh? I think he feels bad because he's younger. D: Thank you so much for saying I did well, I really appreciate it! :D**

**PurpleViolin: AAH!! TOMOKI'S SOOO CUTEE! Yep, I think that in the anime Tomoki and Izumi got along really well, and obviously Junpei was obsessed with herr.. xD I'm really glad you liked the interview! Thanks for reviewing again.**

**Sydneybell24: Thanks so much for reviewing both chapters! You're right it was pretty bittersweet.. D:**

**GirlsLikeeBoys: Yeah, he's pretty insecure. D: Hehe, thanks, you're right, he is a character. xD Thanks for reviewing both chapters! :D**

**Celestial Writer: Thanks so much! I'm really glad you liked it! :D**

Okay, so I really need your guys' opinion on this. So, I'm really having trouble writing with twelve and thirteen year olds. Yes, they're not terribly young, but I think it's much easier to write when they're more mature and have more things happening as far as love and temptations go. **So in these next reviews you send, can you all just tell me if you would hate me a lot if for the next few chapters I went forward in time a little bit faster? **If most of you don't think it's a good idea, then I'll do it. But if I get the okay, it's on. :D Thanks so much for the wonderful reviews from last chapters! They were so sweet and I saved them all in my inbox! xD

Okay, I want to apologize for how long this took. I was on vacation for a horrific ten days and I didn't get the chance to post because I had no internet connection. Sorry! D: I'm going to try and accomplish five day updates. Heh… wish meh luck! :D Whelp, I don't want to hold you up any longer. Enjoy the chapter!

* * *

Time went by pretty fast after the little blow out. Keiko's birthday came along in October and before everybody knew it, Halloween passed as well as Thanksgiving. Snow was falling by now, and school was closed for break.

Over this long period of time, not one Digimon appeared. It was extremely pleasant and calm. The group still didn't know how exactly to spirit evolve. They tried to concentrate, but they were at a loss as to how to do it. Every Saturday they would go into the woods behind Keiko's house and try to evolve, but they never could.

Finally, break came, and although everybody was back to being close friends, they all decided to split up in groups to hang out.

"And this is what we call a really, really bad hair day," a voice said, stirring Kouji out of his slumber.

He opened his eyes to be met with a pair of chocolate brown eyes. "Holy-!" Kouji didn't even have time to finish his sentence, due to the fact that he fell out of his bed and crashed onto the floor.

"Good morning," Takuya said with a happy smile.

"What the hell are you doing in my room?" Kouji asked incredulously.

"Well, since Kouichi is hanging out with Junpei and Tomoki today, and Izumi and Keiko are doing a dumb spa thing, I figured that we could go sledding," the enigmatic brunette explained.

"No. There's no way in hell that you could get me to go sledding with you," Kouji said, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring at his best friend.

"Oh, _really?_"

* * *

"Wow, you really _are _ticklish," Takuya said with a smile as he sat on the back of Kouji's legs and tickled his feet mercilessly.

Somehow, the brunette had managed to get Kouji tied to the bed, face down, and was currently tickle torturing the boy. Said boy was screaming and laughing at the same time, trying to pull out of his bonds as his feet were tickled. Takuya and Junpei had figured out he was ticklish in the Digital World that day at the beach and Takuya used it against him on many occasions, such as this.

"Okay!!! OKAY!!! I'LL GO! I'LL GO! JUST STOP **TICKLING** ME!!!" he wailed, squirming under Takuya's ministrations.

"Promise? Because I'll keep tickling you if you don't promise!" Takuya said, still tickling the feet.

"Yes! **YES!!!**" he cried, tears streaming down his face.

Takuya hopped off, smiling at Kouji as he untied the bonds. "You're such a good friend, Kouji," he said happily.

"I'll cut you," Kouji snarled.

"And I'll tickle you, again," Takuya replied with a serene smiled.

Kouji groaned.

**

* * *

**

"Wow, Keiko! This place is so nice!" Izumi exclaimed happily. She then looked at Keiko with a questioning gaze, "Are you sure that just your _allowance _can pay for a spa place like this?"

"I'm sure. Trust me. I have enough, we can go out for dinner after, if you want," Keiko offered.

"Seriously? Jeez, Keiko, how much do you plan to spend?"

Keiko smiled. "It's fine. I get my allowance again in a couple of days."

"Keiko… Exactly _how _much do you get for allowance?" Izumi asked slowly.

Keiko muttered something under her breath. "What was that?" Keiko cleared her throat then said something softly again. "WHAT?!? FIVE-"

"Shh!!!"

Izumi lowered her voice to a whisper, "Five hundred a week?" **(1)**

"Yeah, don't go telling everybody, though," Keiko said, running a hand through her hair.

"Well, damn! I don't feel bad at all now! Let's go!" Izumi grabbed Keiko by the arm and skipped into the spa happily.

**

* * *

**

"Thanks Mrs. Himi," Kouichi said with a grateful smile.

"You're welcome, Kouichi," she replied, walking out of the room.

"Wow, Tomoki, you're mom's really nice. _And _she can cook! That's like, too cool to be true!" Junpei said, munching happily on a cookie.

"Yeah, but you should try her udon, it's the best," Tomoki said, taking a bite out of his own cookie. "So what movie do you want to watch?"

"What do you have?" Kouichi asked.

Tomoki jumped up and grabbed a few DVDs. "We've got _The Incredibles, Finding Nemo_, and _Lilo and Stitch_!"

Kouichi chuckled half-heartedly and Junpei groaned. "Oh god. You're such a kid," the latter stated.

"Well, that's all we have that's not PG-13! Take your pick!" Tomoki said defensively, sticking his tongue out.

"Why don't we play a board game instead?" Kouichi suggested.

"Okay!" Tomoki said. "We've got Mouse Trap and Pictionary."

Kouchi and Junpei grinned. "Pict-"

"Pictionary Junior, that is," Tomoki said.

The older two groaned.

**

* * *

**

"No, no, no. We are NOT going down this hill." Kouji said, staring at the huge hill in front of them.

"Uh, yeah we are," Takuya said with a raised eyebrow.

"People have gotten seriously hurt here!" Kouji objected.

"Okay, and your point?"

"My point is that we can't go down this hill because one of us will get hurt and it'd be dumb to risk it!" Kouji yelled.

Takuya put a hand over his heart and fake sobbed. "You… you care about me enough to not let me go down that hill?" he asked with a cheesy expression on his face.

"Takuya," Kouji said warningly.

"Oh god! All these years I thought the love was one-sided! I thought that-"

"_Takuya_."

"-I was just wishing for the impossible and-"

"_**Takuya!**_"

Takuya laughed, "Jeez man, don't be such a baby. The hill isn't that bad."

"Takuya, seriously, this is a really, really bad idea. They call it Dead Man's Hill for a reason," Kouji said.

"Fine, I'll just go down on my own, since you're such a chicken," Takuya said, walking off and flapping his arms like a chicken.

Kouji shrugged, whatever, if Takuya wanted to kill himself that was his call. He wouldn't care when Takuya got hurt and… and maybe got messed up for the rest of his life… Kouji sighed and followed the brunette. "Takuya! Wait up!"

**

* * *

**

"You know, lemon juice helps take away sun freckles," Izumi mused, looking at a magazine as her toes were massaged and her hair was highlighted.

"Really?" Keiko asked as one of the women put another curler in her hair.

Izumi sighed happily and smiled. "This is great. I've never been able to get pampered like this before."

Keiko was about to reply to her, but one of the women from the massage room came out. "Girls! Look!" She turned the channel on the flat screen television and the news came on. There was a picture of a news lady with red hair in a helicopter, speaking frantically. There was some sort of thing walking. It was wearing a dark leather suit and had two large guns in it's hands.

"Turn it up, Hitomi," one of the other women said.

Hitomi complied and the lady's voice could be heard. _"We don't have any knowledge where something like this has come from, but we do know that it's already killed two people and seriously injured several others! It seems to be heading straight towards Dead Man's Hill." _The camera was showing the hill, where only two people were on. One had dark hair and was wearing a blue coat, and the other had brown hair and a red coat. _"There are children on the hill! Nobody is allowed on the hill at this point, and we have no way to get them off the hill. Oh dear god be with them." _

Keiko looked at Izumi. "That… looked like Takuya and Kouji," she said with a shaky voice.

"Y-yeah…"

"We're six blocks away, as of now," Keiko said slowly.

Izumi nodded and at the same time, the girls grabbed their shoes and ran out of the spa as fast as they could.

"Christ it's cold out here!" Izumi yelled.

Keiko nodded in agreement as they ran. They ignoring the people who stared at a brunette with her hair half straight and half in curlers and the blonde with foil covering her head.

"There! Look!" Keiko yelled, pointing to the hill. They could see the boys at the top of the hill, pushing the sled to the peak and coming up on their side they could see the weird creature that was most likely a Digimon going up the hill. "Come on, Zumi, we have to-

**

* * *

**

"-go! They need us!" Kouichi shouted as he pulled on his boots and coats.

"Yeah! Let's go!" Tomoki and Junpei said in unison as they pulled on their coats and ran to the door.

"Himi Tomoki! You and your friends will not leave the house with that beast loose! Now you get back in the living room, now!" Mrs. Himi yelled.

"Yes, mother," Tomoki said with a sigh. "Come on guys…"

Kouichi and Junpei sighed, but sat down on the couch, staring at the news footage on the TV.

"_The creature is approaching the hill now! The children don't even seem to see it coming!" _The Digimon turned and looked directly at the camera. He tilted his head, then grinned evilly, finishing his ascent to the top of the hill.

"Shit," Junpei said softly.

**

* * *

**

Keiko ripped her phone from her jeans pocket and dialed Takuya's number.

"_Hello?"_

"Oh, thank god! Takuya-"

"_Gotcha! You've reached Takuya's answering machine, so please leave a message and I'll call you back!"_

Keiko shut the phone and continued running through the streets and towards the hill. "Izumi, did you get in touch with Kouji?"

"Nope, it went straight to voicemail!" Izumi shouted breathlessly as they pushed through the crowds of people.

"They've got it blockaded a mile away, so nobody can get through, we'll just have go around and up the hill," Keiko said, turning left in order to accomplish what she had just said.

"Right!"

**

* * *

**

"You know, Takuya? I'm gonna have to hand it to you. This is a lot more fun than I thought it would be," Kouji said as he and Takuya sat in the snow, exhausted.

"Didn't I tell you?" Takuya asked with a grin. "I'm always-" He trailed off and his jaw dropped.

"Takuya?" Kouji tilted his head in the fashion of what Izumi dubbed the most adorable Kouji-face in the world.

"Kouji, _move!_" he yelled, running away.

Kouji turned around, only to be backhanded roughly across the face.

**

* * *

**

"No!" Kouichi cried as he watched his brother get backhanded by the Digimon. "No! We have to do something!" he yelled, standing up.

"Kouichi, you know we can't leave the house!" Junpei said.

"But… but…"

"Don't worry. They can handle it!" Tomoki said with determination.

Kouichi looked down, _I hope so._

On the television Beezlemon looked up at the helicopter and grinned, pointing a gun at it and shooting.

**

* * *

**

"He just hit him!" Keiko cried. Izumi and said brunette were halfway up the hill when Kouji was backhanded by the creature. Keiko looked around and grabbed a snowball, running up the hill more, Izumi doing the same.

**

* * *

**

Kouji was backing up and Takuya was trying to get him onto his feet. "No use in running, Light," the creature said. It looked over at Takuya. "Hmm, and Fire, no need to get in the way. I just want Light and it'll be over."

"He's referring to us as our elements," Takuya said musingly.

Kouji, who had a nasty bruise blossoming on his cheek nodded. "Who are you? What the hell do you want?"

"I'm Beelzemon, Demon Lord of Gluttony, sworn enemy of the light element, which you happen to possess." He tilted his head. "So I'll take that from you, now."

"I won't let you do that!" Kouji yelled.

"Oh, and how will you stop me?" The brunette and the raven haired boys were silent. "Exactly." He pointed a gun at them. "Double Im-" His head lurched forward and instead of hitting the boys with his gun, he hit a tree behind them. Beezlemon's head lurched forward again and he snarled and turned around, only to be hit in the face with a snowball.

"Don't touch them!" Izumi yelled, throwing a snowball at the Digimon.

Keiko threw one right after her. "Kouji, are you okay?"

Kouji nodded.

"Ah, Wind and Love have joined the battle," Beezlemon said in a bored tone.

He pointed the gun at the girls and shot at them carelessly. Snow flew through the air, as well as Keiko and Izumi, who fell to the snow and were completely covered by the fluff.

"No! Izumi! Keiko!" Takuya yelled.

Beezlemon turned back to the boys. "Let's go, Light. I don't have all day."

"You won't get my spirit!" Kouji yelled. He shut his eyes tightly and tried to concentrate on transforming into Lobomon. "Come on, come on, come on…" he whispered in a mantra. Beezlemon pointed both of his guns at the boys and Takuya cried out. "Light Evolution!" Kouji yelled.

Light came from his lower back and wrapped around his whole body. Armor appeared on his arms, legs, chest and his shape morphed into the warrior of light, Lobomon.

"Lobo Kendo!" he yelled, slicing at Beezlemon. The evil Digimon sighed and in a split second, the guns were in their holsters and his gloves grew long claws on the knuckles. He put them up in the air, deflecting the attack that Lobomon sent out on him.

Takuya shut his eyes, "Evolution of Fire!" Nothing happened. "Err, Fire Evolution!" Takuya smiled smugly as light wrapped around his athletic frame and engulfed him completely. Armor appeared on him and he was transformed into Agunimon.

"Pyro Darts!" Agunimon shot little pieces of fire at Beezlemon. The evil Digimon turned around and with a swipe of his hand, the darts blew away.

Lobomon sliced at Beezlemon, causing the latter to jump up and away. "See if the girls are okay!" he yelled, running back to Beezlemon.

Agunimon ran over to Izumi and Keiko. "Hey! You guys alright?" He dug through the snow and grabbed an arm, which belonged to Izumi. She was shivering and gasping for air, she wasn't wearing a coat, as she forgot to grab one on her way out of the spa. "You okay?"

She nodded and pulled closer to him. "C-cold…"

"I know, it'll be okay. Just sit here, I'm going to look for Keiko," he said and patted her on the head.

As he dug through the snow, Lobomon sailed past him overhead, landing in the snow with a cry.

"Kouji!" Agunimon yelled as he turned back into himself. Agunimon growled and tried to figure out what to do. Beezlemon was advancing on his best friend, while Keiko was still under mounds of snow. Either risk Kouji being shot and killed or risk Keiko suffocating. Beezlemon took aim with his gun and Izumi was digging through the snow, crying out Keiko's name.

"Shit… Pyro Punch!" He leapt through the air, punching Beezlemon's gun from his hands and then jabbing him with his other flame encased fist.

Beezlemon's head barely turned and he growled.

Agunimon's eyes just about popped from his head. He scooped Kouji up and jumped away from Beezlemon's gunfire. He looked towards Izumi and saw that she was in the process of screaming. Keiko was there too, looking as terrified as she was. "Takuya!"

"Takuya, look out!" Kouji screamed.

"Heartbreak Shot!" Agunimon was shot in the back by Beezlemon and he screamed as he fell to the ground with the still battered Kouji in his arms. He took the brute of the fall and wailed as he devolved and Kouji was splayed on top of him.

"Takuya? Takuya! Wake up!" Kouji shook Takuya by the shoulders, trying to get him to open his eyes.

"Kouji!"

Kouji was grabbed up by Beezlemon and thrust off of his brunette friend and into a tree. Beezlemon was then pointing a gun at his head. "I wonder…" he said as he dragged Kouji to his feet by his hair.

"I wonder where the tattoo is," Beezlemon said, tilting his head. He closed his eyes. "I sense it… but I just can't find it…"

He then smiled, tracing a finger down Kouji's chest. "Getting warmer." He pulled Kouji off the tree then pushed him against it so his stomach was digging into the bark. The glove encased finger went down his back. "Warmer."

The large hand lifted up his coat and shirt. "Much warmer." He then hooked a finger into the waistband of Kouji's jeans and slowly pulled the down until the tip of the tattoo was showing.

"Hot." He pulled the jeans down more and pressed his finger to the tattoo, causing it to glow. "Yes, very hot."

"Love Shot!" The hand was hit by a glowing arrow, which pierced through the glove.

Beezlemon spun around and snarled. "You little-"

"Hurricane Wave!"

Beezlemon flew to the side, landing lightly on his feet. He glared at Kazemon, who was holding Kouji up with one arm.

He snarled. "Next time, Light. You're mine." He disappeared in a dark aura.

Kazemon turned back into Izumi and still held onto Kouji, who was panting harshly and looking somewhat terrified. "Kouji?" she said gently.

He nodded and bent over, his hands on his knees. "Tired."

Keiko slowly walked away and over to Takuya who was stirring and sitting up. "You alright?" she asked.

He nodded and stood up with some of her help. "They're coming back…"

"Kouji!" Kouichi was running up the hill with Junpei and Tomoki who were both grinning widely and waving. "Kouji! I was so worried!" Izumi moved out of the way while Kouichi hugged his brother fiercely. "Don't you ever scare me like that again, okay?" he said, kissing his forehead and hugging him again.

Kouji nodded and wrapped his arms around his brother, burying his face in his coat. "I promise…"

Tomoki jumped into Takuya's arms. "Takuya!"

"Hey buddy!" he exclaimed happily, ruffling Tomoki's hair.

"We saw the news and we thought you might be hurt!" he said as he pushed his face into the elder's chest. "I'm glad you're okay!"

"How are you guys?" Junpei asked Izumi and Keiko, who were both without coats and shivering. "Oh, Izumi, my love! You're cold! Take my coat!" He pulled his big orange coat off and Izumi took it without any remarks about his dramatic speaking voice.

"Nice hair, girls," Tomoki said with a giggle. Keiko and Izumi looked at each other and their jaws dropped. Keiko's hair which was half in curlers before was now dripping wet and the curlers were hanging by strands of hair. Izumi's hair was previously in foil and was now half covered with the shiny aluminum and the other half was covered in hair dye.

Everybody laughed and Izumi growled and grabbed Keiko's arm. "To the salon!"

* * *

When Keiko and Izumi were done in the salon, they all met up at the blonde's house and had a serious meeting. They had no idea what was going on, and how the Digimon were able to get into the real world. Then, as they watched the news, Keiko seized up.

"Guys… did you hear that?" she asked softly.

The group looked at her, shaking their heads slowly.

"Two… two people were killed by Beezlemon. This… isn't some random world where creatures get another chance if they're killed. This is real! People are dying! And… and it would be all our fault…"

Everybody stared at the brunette and nodded. "Then what do we do?" Tomoki asked softly.

"We just have to fight," Takuya said.

* * *

**(1) So as far as money goes, we're going by American Dollars. Yes, they live in Japan. But the whole money system as far as how much things cost in confusing to me. I know i could just look it up on the internet but it's such a hassle. D:**

Thank you all for reading! :D


	8. Interview 3: Kouichi

**Interview 3: Kouichi**

**Junpei:**

I think Junpei's really a nice person. He seems kind of… I don't know… hesitant to talk to me sometimes. I don't know why, I don't bite or anything. He's really sweet to Tomoki though, so I can't really complain.

**Tomoki:**

Tomoki's a good kid. It's kind of hard to relate to him sometimes because he's just that much younger. He's definitely nice though, and he definitely cares about other people. He's pretty wise for his age, and I think it's cute that he idolizes Takuya the way he does.

**Takuya:**

Takuya's… Well Takuya's Takuya. He's funny, charismatic, just… he's sort of legally insane in a way. But he's just a nice person in general, and he genuinely cares for people. I really appreciate Takuya, because I think that even though I didn't know my twin when he was going through his little 'I hate the world' phase, he helped him open up. Takuya seems to be the type of person who isn't afraid of what other people think of him. It's really admirable. Sometimes I feel like he dislikes me because I stole his best friend. I hope that's not true, though.

**Keiko:**

Keiko's sweet. I've definitely gotten a lot closer to her than we were before. She's really unbelievably adorable, like, the way she acts and the things she says and I mean, she _looks _adorable. I don't know if you could say I like her like _that _but she's really an amazing person, and I don't know who wouldn't like her. She's really kind and caring, and she's funny, but sometimes I think she's really sad a lot, and she's kind of insecure. But I think she'll work through all of that someday.

**Izumi:**

Izumi… I like Izumi. And I mean like_that _kind of like… She's just so pretty and funny and sweet. I mean, I don't like her like Junpei does, but it's like a kindergarten crush. She's really nice, but some days she becomes kind of like, really mean. She just has really bipolar tendencies and it gets a little bit old, I guess…

**Kouji:**

Kouji's probably the most important person in my life, like, ever. He's just… I know it's not true, since I haven't known him my whole life, but he's always been there for me. It feels like we've known each other longer than six months. Even in the Digital World, once we got past the awkwardness, within an hour it was like we were together forever. The way we compliment each other, him being sarcastic, while people tell me I'm nice and sweet is extremely interesting. We don't act alike personality-wise, but we're both extremely determined when we want something. People think Kouji's really cold-hearted, but he never acts like that towards me. Maybe I'm as special to him as he is to me.


	9. If the World Stopped Spinning

**Review replies for chapter 7:**

**PurpleViolin: Yeah, that was a little rape/molest-ish. Hehe, I couldn't believe I wrote that. It totally just came out. Don't worry, you're not the pervert, I'm the one who wrote. I think that there's a lot of Kouji fangirls out there so it was completely necessary. xD You're and my-little-star's reviews are like the ones I look most forward to, so thanks so much! :D**

**GirlsLikeeBoys: Hehe, I love Beezlemon, even though he's a total man bitch. :D I love Kouji's ass/back. It's hott. XD Thanks baby bunker boooooo.**

**My-little-star: That was such a long review! Thanks so much! :D Hehe, Kouji just had to be tickled. It's extremely mandatory. :D Dead Man's Hill? I would cry if I ever had to go down it, you're extremely brave. xD I just came back from a Caribbean cruise for vacation! That sucks that you can't go!!! Thanks so much for the review! It was so nice to read! :D**

**Momentai35: Aww, I'm glad you liked every second of it! Thanks so much for the review! It was so sweet! :D**

**Yuki's Little Girl: Yep! No one got hurt! Thanks for the review!**

**Empyrea: Thanks for the review and cookies! And you totally got it right! Way to do your research! :D I'm glad you liked the interview! Thanks so much! :D**

**Sydneybell24: Yesh, assback equals hott! :S Hehe, you are very motivating my friend! Thanks so much for the review! :D **

**Review replies for chapter 8:**

**GirlsLikeeBoys: Hehe. Maybeee. Maybe it'll happen. And maybe you'll figure something out this chapter! :D Yes my friend, bondage R-U-L-E-S. :D Maybe they'll get together. We talked about this last time I slept over or maybe the time before that. xD Thanks for the review best friendd. :F**

**PurpleViolin: I know! I love Kouichi! He's so darn adorable!! Hehe, inner you makes me laugh. xD Koumi… a very cute couple. xD you never know! Thanks so much for the review!**

**My-little-star: Your review seriously almost made me cry! That was so nice! Seriously, it was like, awesome. Yeah, it's hard to write stuff for Tomoki and Junpei… I don't know, their characters are just so hard for me to get. But I tried! And not this chapter, but next chapter, there'll be more of them!**

**Celestial writer: I know, I didn't think about it until I was writing and I go, 'wait.. They can die here…' I'm glad you liked the interview and thanks so much for the review! :D**

**Momentai35: Thank you soooo much! Seriously, that was really nice. I'm so glad I have your support! Thanks so much! **

**Sydneybell24: Yep, Kouji's a cutie, huh? I agree that it's hard to find their views, but thank you for praising it! Thanks so much for the review!!**

* * *

Raindrops pitter patted against the window serenely. The snow was all gone, and flowers were beginning to bloom. Kouichi sighed softly, he missed the snow a little bit, but the pink flowers were cool, too. They reminded him of the pink sweater that Izumi wore the day before…

"Hey, Kouji?" he asked softly.

Kouji looked up. "Yeah?"

"Would you be mad if I asked Izumi out on a date?" he asked quickly, then shut his eyes, getting ready for the worst.

"Honestly?"

"Yeah…"

"Maybe a little. I think you like her more than I do, though, so it would really make me more happy," he said, smiling.

Kouichi sighed with relief. His brother only had a soft spot for him. "Thanks, Kouji."

"No problem. So where do you plan on taking her?" he asked.

"Um… probably to that new restaurant. You know, the one a couple of blocks away from the high school."

"That's a nice place. You gonna ask her in school or anything?"

"Um… I think so. You sure you're not mad?" he asked wearily.

Kouji nodded. "I'm extremely sure."

**

* * *

**

"Keiko!"

Keiko was dragged away from Tamotsu and pulled over to Izumi. "Y-yes?"

"Kouichi asked me out!" she squealed, jumping up and down and spinning the brunette around.

Keiko smiled. "Really? I'm… happy for you, Izumi," she said, looking over to Tamotsu who was waiting patiently.

"Thanks! I'm gonna go! Bye!" She then skipped off, leaving her teal eyed friend staring.

"She's pretty excitable," Tamotsu said, smiling.

"Yeah, she gets like that at times," Keiko said with a little smile.

"I can see that. So tonight you can come over and help with the painting process. Then tomorrow night we can start making it look like an actual solar system," Tamotsu said as they walked through the halls.

"Tomorrow is it your house or mine?" she asked.

"Either or. Tomorrow night my mom said she's ordering sushi, and if I remember, you said you never get to have it," he said.

"Your house it is!" she said, then she tilted her head, "I kind of feel like I'm intruding. How about we do tonight at my house, then?"

"Alright. Well, I know where it is, so around five?" Keiko's eyes widened. "Keiko. Most people know where your house is."

She coughed. "Alright then, I'll see you."

"Bye," he said with a wave, walking over to his friend Asashi.

Keiko smiled and walked away to her locker. She was suddenly grabbed by somebody and pulled away. She gasped as she was pushed against the lockers.

"God, Takuya. You scared me to death," she said as she put a hand against her chest.

"I need you," he said, staring at her.

"Sorry, I'm not into guys," she said sarcastically.

"No, I mean, did you hear about Kouichi and Izumi?" he asked.

"Yeah," Keiko said.

"_I _like Izumi!" he said, pointing to his chest.

"Well, he didn't just go and ask her out without asking you first, right?"

"Right."

"And you said it was okay?"

"Yeah."

"Then if it wasn't, you should have said so," Keiko said.

"It's just… I want Kouichi to be happy, but… I like Izumi too and…" Takuya sighed, "They're going to some new restaurant near the high school tomorrow night… Can you come with me to watch them?"

"Well, no, because number one: that would be called stalking, and it's illegal in most countries as well as weird and morally impudent. And two, because I'm going to Tamotsu's for our project in science. Sorry, Takuya," she said, frowning at him sadly.

Takuya raised an eyebrow, "Impudent? Wow, that's new."

"It means a lack of respect. It pretty much applies to what you plan on doing, by the way."

"Well, maybe you're right. Maybe that's rude…"

"So you won't do it?" Keiko asked hopefully.

"Oh, I'm still doing it. I'm just asking Kouji, instead," he said, walking off with a smug grin.

Keiko sighed and headed to her locker, hoping to not get assaulted on the way.

**

* * *

**

"So will you do it?" Takuya asked as he rubbed a towel through his hair. He had just gotten out of the shower when Kouji came.

Kouji narrowed his eyes. "That's kind of invading, isn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah, well, wouldn't you rather have Izumi's first kiss?" Takuya asked, raising an eyebrow.

Kouji glared. "That should be her choice, Takuya."

Takuya nodded, "Yeah, well what if she _wants _you to be her first kiss, but she just couldn't keep her hands off of Kouichi?"

Kouji contemplated this for a moment. What if she liked him, but she also liked Kouichi? God, Kouji liked her… "Fine."

**

* * *

**

"This is so wrong," Kouji muttered as he adjusted his fake mustache.

"Not really. It's just us being protective of our girl, right?" Takuya said, nodding to Kouji.

"Whatever," he muttered.

Izumi and Kouichi walked in and sat down at a table, giving the waitress their drink orders. Kouichi said something and the two began to laugh, and afterwards they blushed.

"Hmm… He's certainly got the charm that girls always like…" Takuya said.

"Well, duh," Kouji replied, "He's my brother, of course he's got the moves. I do too."

"Yeah, that's why Izumi's not going out with you," Takuya said teasingly, sticking out his tongue at his dark haired friend.

"Hmph, well I don't see Michiko going out with you!" Kouji retorted.

Takuya narrowed his eyes. "Michiko can't handle this." He then grinned, "Damn, Keiko has the hottest friends. All those soccer players and volleyball players and the dancers… If she was a lesbian, her life would be complete."

Kouji rolled his eyes, "Yeah, Michiko is pretty good looking, huh? So are all those other girls Keiko's friends with, I never really thought about it until now…"

"Well, hot girls make hot friends… I think Keiko's pretty cute, don't you?" Takuya asked as he adjusted his fake glasses.

"Yeah, but she's just… I don't know… closed off? Sometimes it's like we don't know the real her…"

**

* * *

**

"Sometimes it's like I don't know the real you…"

Keiko looked at Tamotsu. "What do you mean?"

He was in the process of adding another coat of dark blue to the giant posterboard they were working on. "Well… I don't know, sometimes you're just so…" He looked at her, "Secretive."

Keiko looked down, "Yeah?"

Tamotsu nodded.

Keiko swallowed nervously. "I don't know, I think that sometimes…" She sighed. "I'll try to be more open, if that's cool…"

Tamotsu smiled at the teal eyed girl, "Yeah, that'd be really cool." Silence overtook the two students as they painted.

"I'm starting to get a hand cramp," Keiko said as she swooped the paintbrush across the board.

"Yeah, me too… Wanna take a break?" Tamotsu asked.

"Um… okay. We can eat dinner now, if you'd like. Saburo isn't feeling well, so it's my turn to cook. I can make some udon quick so that we can get back to work," she offered.

"Sure," Tamotsu said with a grin.

**

* * *

**

"Look at him putting the moves on her, he's seriously, like, a pro," Takuya said as he ate a piece of chicken.

"Like I said, he's related to me," Kouji said smugly.

"Ha… HA."

"Look!" Takuya turned around and stared as Kouichi leaned over and kissed her on the cheek.

"It is most certainly on, now," Takuya said, ripping off the fake glasses and trench coat. "Every man for themselves!" he exclaimed as he grabbed Kouji's hand and walked over to Kouichi and Izumi's table.

"Takuya! Wait!" Kouji hissed, trying to pull away from the slightly younger boy.

"Well, _hello_ Kouichi and Izumi. Fancy meeting you here!" Takuya said, pulling up a chair and taking a seat on the other side of Izumi and resting his arm on the back of the chair.

"Uh, yeah. It is…" Kouichi said softly, looking down at his hands a little bit sadly. He cleared his throat, "Um, I have to go to the bathroom, so if you'll excuse me…"

He got up and walked over to the bathroom, shutting the door and leaning against the sink. He called the only person he could think of calling.

**

* * *

**

Keiko was leaning against the counter, laughing at something Tamotsu had said when her cell phone rang. "Crap… hang on one second. I'm sorry," she said.

"It's fine, Keiko," Tamotsu said sweetly, smiling fondly at the brunette.

Keiko smiled and walked into the dining room. "Hello?"

"_Keiko?"_

"Hey, Kouichi, what's up?"

"_Takuya and Kouji totally just walked up to mine and Izumi's table, and now they're sitting with us!"_

"Are you serious?"

"_Yeah, and for some reason, Kouji was wearing a fake moustache…"_

**

* * *

**

"Hey, Kouji? Why are you wearing that fake moustache?" Izumi asked.

Kouji felt his face go red and he ripped the moustache off of his face.

**

* * *

**

"That's um… weird…" Keiko said. She sighed, "Oh, I really should have said something…"

"_What do you mean, you should have said something?"_

"Well… um, Takuya said he was going with Kouji to watch you on your date with Izumi, and Takuya asked me first, but I said no and he said he was going to ask Kouji, but I didn't say anything because I didn't think Kouji was going to go through with it, and so yeah… I'm so sorry Kouichi," she finished.

"_They came to watch me? Kouji came to watch me?" _

"I didn't think that they would actually go. I'm really sorry, Kouichi. If I knew they would go through with it, you know that I would have told you."

"_I know. Thanks Keiko."_

"Are you okay?"

"_Yeah, I just… I can't believe he would pull something like that. But yeah, I'm gonna go now."_

"Okay, bye Kouichi, call me if you need anything, you know?"

"_I will. Bye Keiko."_

Keiko sighed and hung up the phone, she walked back into the room to see Tamotsu kneeling down and petting her cat. "Who's this?" he asked, smiling in a way that made Keiko get all red in the face.

"That's Mister Boots. Say hi, Mister Boots," she said.

The cat looked up at the dirty blonde haired boy and meowed.

"Wow, he's really smart. He's a cute little guy," Tamotsu said, scratching the cat behind the ear. The cat literally _glared _at the boy.

"Oh, Mister Boots is a girl," Keiko said, smiling and twirling her hair in her fingers.

"Oh… Okay…"

**

* * *

**

Kouichi emerged and sighed when he was forced to sit across Izumi, who was giggling at something that Takuya was saying.

Kouji looked at his brother with a guilty face. "Kouichi-"

"Save it," Kouichi said, going back to eating his food.

**

* * *

**

"Did you know that Hotaka likes you?" Tamotsu asked off handedly as the pair ate udon while painting.

"Really? I didn't know that," Keiko said thoughtfully.

Well, duh, it's pretty obvious," Tamotsu said teasingly, sticking out his tongue.

Keiko hit him playfully and went back to painting. "Well, I have more important things on my mind other than good looking football players."

Tamotsu smiled. "How about good looking soccer players?"

Keiko blushed. "You're quite the charmer, aren't you?"

Tamotsu laughed, "You're too cute, Keiko."

"Yeah? Well I won't be cute when I cut you," she said, smiling as the blush diminished.

"Yes you would," Tamotsu insisted.

Keiko sniffed indignantly, "Well let's get to painting…"

Tamotsu nodded and they were silent again as they painted. "Just… don't go for Hotaka, Keiko," he said quietly.

Keiko looked at him, "Why?"

"Because," he looked at her and smiled, "he's a cool guy, but he just doesn't make a good boyfriend… And Keiko," his smile turned soft, "You're great, you know?"

Keiko blushed and smiled, going back to painting.

**

* * *

**

"Thanks for the fun, you guys," Izumi said as her mother pulled up in her SUV. She smiled and kissed Takuya on the cheek. "Thanks especially to you, Takuya."

Takuya grinned, "Bye Izumi!"

She looked at Kouichi and smiled. "Bye, Kouichi."

Kouichi felt anger boil in his chest as Izumi said goodbye to Kouji and got into the SUV, driving off into the night.

Kouichi glared at the other two boys. Takuya looked at the older twin, furrowing his eyebrows. "Sorry if we kind of ruined your date, Kouichi…" he said.

Kouichi had never felt so angry in his life. "You know, you two are probably the people I least want to talk to right now." He looked at Kouji, who withered under his gaze. "Especially you. So I would appreciate if neither of you talked to me." He began to walk off.

"Kouichi!" Kouji yelled. He looked defeated as his brother rounded the corner. He stared at Takuya. "This is all your _fault._" he snarled.

"_What?_"

"If you hadn't dragged me here than he wouldn't be mad at me! Why would you do that? Why would you trick me into coming and ruining everything for him?!?"

"Hey! I didn't trick you into coming and you know it!" Takuya yelled back.

"Just shut up, Takuya. Just shut your mouth." Kouji put his hands in his hair. "I'm so sick of your voice! Just leave me alone!" He walked off.

"Whatever, Kouji! Just don't blame me for your problems!" he yelled. Takuya walked off in the opposite direction.

**

* * *

**

"Hey, Tamotsu?" Keiko said softly as they finished.

"Yeah?"

She looked down, "Thanks… you're a really good person."

Tamotsu smiled. "Takes one to know one." He looked at the clock on the DVD player perched on the wall. "Well, I'd better get home. Thanks for dinner and everything."

"No problem," Keiko said as she walked him to the door.

He turned and smiled at her, hugging her quickly and laughing. "You're so cute, Keiko. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Bye," she said with a shy smile as he pulled away and walked down the driveway.

**

* * *

**

Two days later, Kouji stood at the door of Kouichi's mother's apartment. The whole weekend, Kouichi wouldn't talk to him, he didn't return his phone calls and when he came over, he was always out with either Junpei or Keiko. He was really mad. Kouji had taken the initiative and he talked to Takuya, who felt really bad about the situation, and when he called Kouichi, the older twin forgave Takuya right away. That really upset Kouji.

He knocked on the door and stared at his feet. Their mother came out, "Oh, hi Kouji, how are you, sweetie?" she asked as she leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.

"I'm good mom, is… is Kouichi here?" he asked.

"He is, he's in his room, right now," she said, then she frowned, "He told me what happened on Friday."

He stared at the floor. "That's why I'm here…"

Tomoko moved aside so Kouji could walk in and up to Kouichi's room. He was about to knock, but instead, he simply opened the door and moved in. "Kouichi?"

Kouji received one of the most terrifying glares he ever would from his older twin. "What do you want, Kouji? I already said I didn't want to talk to you."

Kouji stared at him, then looked down. "Kouichi… I'm-"

"Sorry? _Are_ you sorry? Kouji, that doesn't change a thing. Why? Why would you do something like that to me? You can't tell me, _can_ you?" he said, raising his voice.

"I don't know why it happened! I just… I like Izumi so much, and then Takuya and… Kouichi I'm so, so _sorry_," Kouji said sincerely.

"Maybe, Kouji, you should have thought of that earlier," he said, turning in his seat and looking out the window.

Kouji, who looked devastated, slowly walked into the room and closed the door behind him, sitting on the bed.

"Kouji, everything was going great, and you and Takuya just _ruined_ it. She probably doesn't even _like _me anymore… You didn't care about my feelings at all, all you cared about was _yourselves_. I thought you were better than that, Kouji… You really disappointed me, you know?" He turned around to see his brother sitting on the bed, shuddering.

"Kouji?" He stood up and took a step towards his brother. "Kouji… are you… crying?"

Kouji looked up and Kouichi noticed that his eyes were wet. "You've never been so mad at me before, Kouichi," he said shakily.

Kouichi made a pained noise in his throat and rushed over to the bed to embrace his brother. Of course Kouji would be upset, Kouichi never got mad at him. This was the reaction that most younger brothers would have if their older brother scolded them while they were children. Kouji and Kouichi weren't children, of course, but they had only known each other for a year, and things like this, brotherly things that were new, definitely brought out their childish tendencies.

Kouichi ran his hand through his brother's hair and sighed. "I really didn't mean to make you upset, Kouji. You made me mad, though. Do you understand?"

Kouji, who was too sad and embarrassed to lift his head, nodded into his brother's shirt and buried his head further into the soft material. Kouji muttered something that was barely understandable.

Kouichi smiled and sighed again, burying his face in Kouji's hair, "I love you, too, Kouji."

Kouji looked up after a moment. His cheeks weren't wet, and his eyes were only slightly damp. "I promise that nothing like that will ever happen again." He pushed his face back into his brother's chest, "I promise."

"I know, Kouji. I know," he said, and rubbed his brother's back for a few minutes.

Kouji sighed contently and snuggled closer to his brother. "I think I might fall asleep, Kouichi…" he said softly.

"Wait, when was the last time you slept, anyway?" Kouichi asked with a trace of concern.

"Meh… I didn't really sleep all weekend. I was thinking about… well, you know…" Kouji sighed.

"Oh, man. I'm sorry, Kouji," Kouichi said.

"'s okay…" His voice was beginning to get thick with sleep. "Can I sleep here for a while?"

Kouichi nodded, "Yeah."

Kouji smiled drowsily, "Thanks…"

Kouichi didn't even get a chance to reply, because his younger twin brother was sleeping against his chest like a baby. Kouichi smiled and laid back, falling asleep with his brother. He managed to murmur "I love you" before sleep overtook him.

**

* * *

**

"He… he likes me?" Keiko asked over the phone, laying on her stomach while curled up in her sheets.

"_Yeah, last night, when I hung out with the boys, we had a conversation about you, and the way he talked about you, he totally adores you. Trust me."_

"Are you sure though, Izumi?"

"_I'm completely sure. He likes you!"_

"Wow… that's um… that's kind of unexpected."

"_I told you he did! Now, who is the most psychic and adorable blonde you've ever met?"_

"Well, you're the most psychic, but as far as the adorability goes, I'd say you tie with Tamotsu…"

"_What?!?"_

"I'm kidding, Izumi. It's totally you."

"_I thought so you little brat. Anyway, you never told me how it went with him last night. Anything good happen?"_

"Well, yeah, he said I was cute and he said um… he said that I shouldn't go for Hotaka, because apparently he likes me-"

"_He's really hot."_

"I know… but he said that Hotaka isn't a good boyfriend, so I shouldn't go for him, and he goes, "Because you're great, Keiko" or something adorable like that."

"_Keiko. This means something!"_

"I know. And I think that it's something extremely good."

**

* * *

**

Yes, I ended there. :D Who's the mystery man? The world may never know! XD Well, yeah, read and review my friends. I love you all! :D The interview will come out a few minutes after this chapter. I'm just working out a few kinks with my beta. :D


	10. Interview 4: Kouji

Important Author's note: So my beta asked for a little something since she's so sweet to me. Her words, not mine. And she asked if for Kouji and Takuya we do a little competition between Izumi and Keiko for looks. Yeahh. Let the games begin.

**Interview 4: Kouji**

**Junpei: **

Okay… Junpei is definitely annoying at times, but he's changed. I just think the whole love sick puppy over Izumi thing kind of makes him come off as an idiot. And he's not, we all know it. I think he needs to stop putting Izumi before everybody else, because I know for a fact that it bothers Takuya and Keiko. Probably Kouichi too, but he's too nice to say anything about it.

**Tomoki:**

Well, he's a kid. And he's definitely more mature than he used to be, but he's still a kid. Okay, call me cold hearted and a jerk, but I don't particularly like kids. They smell and they're annoying and loud and Tomoki's not like a baby, but he still has childish and immature tendencies. It's kind of obnoxious.

**Izumi: **

Alright, obviously I like Izumi. Like, _like _her. A lot. She's funny and really pretty and sweet and strong. I think that sometimes she's kind of whiney and that for her it's either her way or the highway. It gets really old and I don't think I could deal with it. I like the way that she thinks, and even though she can be really shallow, she can be deep too. She's really pretty and she's funny and I think she really cares about me.

**Keiko:**

Keiko is… I don't even know how to describe it. She's just… ugh. Umm… I definitely think she's cute, and she's funny and nice and all, but I don't like her like that… Well, at least not that much. She's complicated. She tends to hide things, things that we still don't know about. She's a really happy person in general, and she's always been a good person to talk to. She listens really well and she gives good advice. It's pretty admirable that she stands up for what she believes in, no matter what. She's pretty cool.

**Takuya:**

Takuya and I kind of tend to have a love hate relationship. Like, we're best friends, but we fight a lot. We've been better about it I think, but we're still argumentive and we annoy each other a lot. Obviously I care about the twit, I do, I mean, I saved him like a couple times. Actually a few times now that I think about it. I saved him from falling off a cliff, I've saved him from Duskmon, I've saved him from those ice tentacle things. So as you can see, I care about me best friend.

**Kouichi:**

Kouichi is the person who knows the most about me, second would be Takuya and third would be… maybe Keiko? But, he's always there for me, and he's always cared about me. Sometimes we get in little disagreements, but I know now that it doesn't mean he hates me. There's a lot to like about Kouichi, like his generosity, his kind soul and his sense of humor. I think from the start, well besides the Duskmon thing, we'd gotten along. Sure, it was awkward at first but I know for a fact that we're closer than ever and I love him with all my heart. I'm glad that I met him, and there's really nothing bad I could ever say about him. He's great.

**Izumi vs. Keiko**

**Eyes:**

Keiko's are definitely prettier. Keiko's are like, blue-green, and it's really cool. Izumi's are cool, but they're just plain green.

**Body:**

Izumi's. They're both in shape obviously, but Izumi's a little bit more endowed if you get my picture.

**Hair:**

Um… Keiko's hair is thinner and straighter, but Izumi's hair is blonde and I think I have a weak spot for blondes.

**Smile: **

Izumi has like, this really big smile, but I think I like Keiko's smile a little bit more. She has this kind of shy smile and her eyes crinkle a little and… it's just _really _cute.

**Attitude:**

Izumi has a bit of bitch streak, and sometimes it's like she tries to put people down, but Keiko's a little bit more approachable and friendly. I think that Keiko's nicer, but Izumi's attitude is sexier. It's kind of a tie.

**Smarter:**

Keiko's really, really good at Math and English, but she's not as gifted in Science or Social Studies. Izumi's good at everything and she's in advanced classes, so I think Izumi's smarter.

**Funnier:**

They have their own senses of humor, and they're funnier in their own ways.

**Who knows you better?**

Well, I think Keiko knows more about me, because she listens more than Izumi does, but Izumi's definitely getting there.


	11. Living With the Kisses

This will be one of the last times I skip time. Thank you all for enduring that!

**Review replies for chapter 9:**

**GirlsLikeeBoys: I'm glad you liked the chapter. Thanks so much for your review! And of course you want to mystery man to be Kouji.**

**SepherZmon: Haha, I know, right? Thanks for the review!**

**Momentai35: Thanks for the review! I'm really happy that you liked this chapter!**

**My-little-star: Thank you for the review! :D Yes, me with my sneakyness it'll never be who we all expect. :P Hmm, you think it's Kouji? You could be right! Yep, he sure cried. Muahaha. I'm evil! :D **

**PurpleViolin: Thanks for the review! Ohohoh, you silly person. :D I'm glad Inner Me is there to keep you in your senses. Yeah, Izumi is totally oblivious to the fact that all those sexy beasts like her. :D Irony. Poor Kouji, he makes me smile, though. :D And we have a Tameiko fan? Woohoo! Thank you, I really love reading your reviews! :D**

**Empyrea: Thanks for the review! Yeah, this whole romance thing is all over the place huh? I lurve brotherly moments, they make me smile. Ah, it's disappointing? How? Yep, your guess was right! :D **

**Yuki's Little Girl: I will! Thanks for the review!**

**Review replies for chapter 10:**

**GirlsLikeeBoys: Hehe, you little dork. :D Thanks for the review babe. :D**

**Momentai35: I'm glad you liked it. :D Your review was sweet, thanks so much. :D**

**My-little-star: Drama, drama. Izumi vs. Keiko is on. :D Hehe, let's see what Kouji decides in the end! Hmm, there really should be a pot for the bids. Ahaha. Aww, thanks! I'm glad you thought they were realistic! :D Thanks for the review!**

**Celestial Writer: The girls would surely kill somebody if they figured out the competition between the two of them. It would be bad. Thanks so much for your review, and I really hope you like the next chapter! :D**

**PurpleViolin: Wasn't it sweet? I love Kouji and Takuya's friendship! Brotherly love is bomb. xD Hormones rock when it comes to boys, because well… it calls for dramaaa! :D Thanks for the review!**

So a reviewer and my real life best friend made a request that we have two certain characters have a moment. So all of you enjoy! :D

* * *

Time passed quickly. Nothing much happened over the summer, except the boys grew taller and the girls developed a little bit more. As school began, they shared classes and Kouji began kendo, Izumi began cheerleading and Takuya and Keiko began their soccer season. Junpei felt it was surreal that he was finally in high school, and Tomoki was ten and going into 5th grade. On October 12th, Keiko turned 13, and for her birthday party, she decided to have a movie night. She invited the other six Digi-destined, and she also invited Tamotsu and Michiko.

"Where're we watching movies, Keiko? Your room?" Takuya asked curiously as they all headed through the kitchen and into the foyer. It was pitch black outside and seemed to be a bit ominous.

"No, we're going to the basement, we have a T.V. down there too. Aah, move it Pacino…" she nudged the Husky with her foot and he moved out of the way, his claws scraping across the floors lightly. "Okay, watch your step, it's pretty steep on these stairs."

All seven moved down the stairs slowly and when they got to the bottom, all but Keiko were shocked into silence. There was a huge T.V. screen and a large couch that looked squishy enough to suck you right in. There were pizza boxes on a table where soda and popcorn also sat.

"That T.V. is the size of a movie theater screen, Keiko! How did you guys get this?" Junpei asked in shock.

Keiko shrugged and smiled nostalgically, "My dad's passion was movies, considering that he owned a motion picture production studio. Whenever one of our movies would come out, we'd all watch it, if it was appropriate that is, and then we'd all celebrate a job well done."

"That's really cool. How many movies are down here, anyway? And are all of them ones your family's company made?" Takuya asked, gesturing to all the movies on the wall.

"Eh, I don't know. Thousands. No, the ones that we made are upstairs, but I already picked out a few choices for tonight." She looked at Tomoki, "I didn't pick any scary ones, but once Tomoki has to leave we'll watch more adult ones."

Tomoki huffed, "I'm not a baby."

Takuya ruffled his hair, "We know. We just don't think that you're ready for the sex scenes and stuff."

Tomoki nodded. "Alright, that's fine, then." He gave Takuya a thumbs up.

"Okay, I got _Twister_ and _Happy Feet _for now, but-"

"_Happy Feet_? Keiko, I'm ten, not six," Tomoki objected with a laugh.

Keiko stared at the younger boy, "_Happy Feet_, my friend, is no joke." Everybody was silent for a few moments as Tomoki shrank slightly. "Alright, let's vote… All who vote on _Twister_?"

Everybody but Keiko and Junpei raised their hands. Keiko sighed, "And I guess it's _Twister _then." She walked over to the DVD player and popped in the movie.

"Aww! I love _Happy Feet_!" Junpei cried dejectedly.

"Me too!" Keiko said, settling between Kouji and Tamotsu. She looked at the latter, "Some people just have bad taste in movies."

She giggled as Tamotsu flicked her in the forehead.

Kouji cleared his throat, "So are we starting or what?"

"Yeah, sorry," Keiko said, hitting a button on the remote she was carrying.

As the beginning played out, Junpei tried to reach over Kouichi to hold Izumi's hand, only for it to be swatted away by the blonde. Junpei was heard pleading something, then Izumi hissed something back and then laughed and Michiko giggled, too.

More of the movie progressed and Keiko and Tamotsu were murmuring between each other. Kouji was getting more and more annoyed throughout the movie. Of course he would end up sitting with those two. He just wanted to watch the movie, damn it.

Tamotsu lazily slung his arm over the back of the couch, slightly touching Keiko. "This movie was the reason I got my dog, you know."

Keiko looked at him and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yeah. When I first saw this movie, I was like, six or something, and I couldn't sleep at night because I was convinced that a tornado would hit and I would get stuck under all the rubble, like the aunt," he said gesturing to the T.V. "It got so bad that I started to fall asleep in class and the teacher would send me home. Well, my mom decided to get me a Golden Retriever, like the one in the movie, and she said if we ever did get a tornado, the dog would save me."

Keiko smiled, "That's really cute." She then had a sly look on her face. "Are you still afraid of tornadoes?"

He grinned, "Sure am."

Keiko laughed lightly and went back to watching the movie.

At the point where Jo and Bill were trying to talk Jonas out of going into the tornado, Izumi blanched. "I hate Jonas. I hope he dies." As soon as she said that, the car was sucked into the tornado, and when it came down it exploded with loud surround sound. She grabbed both Kouichi and Takuya's hands when she jumped.

Kouichi and Takuya looked at each other, exchanging glances. Izumi wasn't letting go of their hands.

"Umm… Izumi?"

Izumi looked at Takuya, then down at her hands. She blushed and pulled them away quickly, muttering her apology.

As the movie ended and Tomoki's mother still didn't arrive, Keiko and Junpei did victory cries and she put in _Happy Feet, _announcing they would watch it until Tomoki's mom came.

"_You don't have to be beautiful, to turn me on," _one of the penguin sang, and soon enough Keiko and Junpei joined, hopping up and down in their seats. Keiko's voice was cute sounding, while Junpei's was kind of funny.

As they belted out the lyrics to Kiss by Prince, Naoki came down the stairs. "Hey, Tomoki? Your mom is here," he said.

"Aww! Bye Tomoki!" Keiko said as he headed up the stairs and past Naoki, saying goodbye to everybody.

"I guess that means no more _Happy Feet_," Keiko said sadly, pressing the stop button.

Everybody else whooped and cheered and Junpei fake sobbed.

"Hey, Keiko? Can you come here for a quick second? I'm sorry to interrupt, but it's kind of important," Naoki said.

Keiko nodded and walked up the stairs to where Naoki was standing at the top. "Did Saburo say anything to you about leaving, tonight?" he asked.

Keiko looked down towards where the others were sitting, finding that they were all talking to each other, not listening to the conversation. "No. Is he gone?"

"He left sometime after you opened your presents… He hasn't been answering his phone and I've called his friends and they have no idea where he is," Naoki said.

Keiko nodded, "I have my phone with me, and if he calls, I'll tell you, okay?"

Naoki smiled at his sister, "Thanks, Keiko."

Keiko smiled back as Naoki headed up the stairs and shut the door. She walked back downstairs and pulled a DVD off the table. "Okay, next movies! We've got _Scream_, _Halloween_, _Texas Chain Saw Massacre_, and for those of you who don't plan to sleep at night, _Texas Chainsaw Massacre_, the remake that is, and _The Exorcist_. I think we have _Psycho_ somewhere in here, too…"

Everybody immediately began calling out their choices for movies and Keiko raised a finger. "Calm yourselves bitches. We'll take a vote."

Turns out that most of the teenagers wanted to watch _The Exorcist_. Izumi shuddered, "I'm terrified of _The Exorcist._"

"Me too. Maybe we can hold each other, Izumi," Junpei said, wiggling his eyebrows.

Izumi smiled, "No thanks, Junpei…"

Keiko put the DVD in the player and she sat back in her seat. Izumi spent a lot of the movie hiding behind her hands and shrieking, yelling that she hates Reagan and that she'll never eat soup again.

Tamotsu and Keiko spent the movie giggling at whispering things to each other, and Kouji spent the movie annoyed and glowering at the fact that once again, they were talking.

Just at the point where Father Merrin died of a heart attack a door was heard being closed upstairs.

"Where have you been?" A voice, Naoki's voice, asked with anger.

"None of your business," another voice replied, this one sounding younger.

"Yes, Saburo, it is my business! Keiji and I have been worried sick about you. It's almost midnight and you disappeared over nine hours ago! We've called everybody and they had no idea where you were. Explain yourself now," Naoki said.

"I don't have to do anything! Just leave me alone!" Saburo yelled.

"Don't you _dare _raise your voice at me!" Naoki shouted.

"Don't tell me what to do!" Saburo sounded as if he was about to cry. "You're not my father!"

Footsteps were heard over their head and they went up the stairs, another door slamming a floor or two up.

Keiko stared at the floor for a moment before standing up, "I'm going to go get some more popcorn," she said as she left.

Everybody stayed silent as they heard Keiko say something to Naoki, and Naoki say something back. Keiko said she'd be back, and the back door was heard opening then shutting.

"What do we do?" Kouichi asked softly.

"Maybe somebody should go talk to her… Izumi?" Takuya suggested.

"Um… I would but… I'm honestly terrified the little girl's going to get me…" Izumi said with embarrassment.

Tamotsu cleared his throat, "I'll go… I'll see if everything's okay…"

Kouji stood up and began to walk up the stairs. "I'll do it," he said, leaving the room. He went to the left and through the front door, where he spotted Keiko sitting by the pool, dipping her feet in the water.

Kouji sighed and sat next to her, cross-legged so that his feet wouldn't touch the water. The moonlight reflected beautifully off the water, and every ripple sent by Keiko's feet made it even more gorgeous.

"It wasn't always like this, you know…" Keiko said softly.

Kouji looked at the brunette, "What do you mean?"

"The fighting. We all used to get along fine, until my mom and dad died… You know, the two of them being dead doesn't even bother me anymore, it's just the way everybody's taken it that makes me sad."

"What do you mean?"

Keiko sighed. "I think that out of all of us, Keiji was the most screwed up by the whole thing. He was really close to my mom and dad. When they died he started to get into drugs and alcohol. Naoki and him used to get into screaming matches and one time Naoki even pushed him. Things were getting bad for a while, but finally Keiji almost died from an overdose. I remember when Naoki had to drive him to the hospital and when he came back in the morning, Keiji was crying hysterically in Naoki's arms. That's when things got better. Naoki and Keiji are really close now.

"Saburo was really upset too. He became really depressed and I remember one time in the winter he jumped into the pool. He almost died from hypothermia, and if Pacino wasn't there to pull him out, than he would probably be dead right now. Naoki was a wreck, because that was around the same time Keiji was doing drugs and everything. He wouldn't sleep that much, and I think I was almost ten then, so I would cook dinner for everybody.

"Naoki had a lot of work to do, taking over a company as big as it is, so I would try to help him. I would go grocery shopping, and I would take the dogs for walks. There wasn't really much I could do, but I really tried…"

"Isn't that a little unfair? You were the youngest one and you were there when they died and you were the one who was taking care of them."

"It wasn't really unfair. When my parents died, I expected it. They didn't. I took care of them because Keiji and Saburo were kids, and Naoki had so much to suddenly have to do. He had to take over a business, finish school, take care of us…"

"What do you mean when you say that you expected it?" Kouji asked slowly.

"I think that when we were in the plane and we were crashing, I realized we were all going to die, and even though it took about 60 seconds, I realized that I may never see them again… Also, I was awake in the plane and I think that in a way, I was able to grieve while I was waiting for somebody to save me. It's so sad to think about, but I don't really cry about my parents." She stared at her reflection. "Actually, I don't really cry at all…"

"Does that scare you, Keiko?"

Keiko blinked slowly as she watched the Keiko in the water. "Yeah. It does."

"Hey, Keiko?"

"Yeah?"

"Why didn't you ever tell anybody this before?"

She shrugged, "Nobody ever asked."

"I didn't," Kouji said.

Keiko looked at him, "I know. But I guess I needed to open up to somebody, sometime."

"Who else knows about this?" Kouji asked.

"Izumi knows some stuff, like the fact that Keiji used to do drugs, but she doesn't know everything," she said. There was silence for a moment and Keiko stood up, "Wanna go back?" she asked.

Kouji looked up at her, "Okay."

**

* * *

**

When Keiko and Kouji walked back into the house (and Keiko got some popcorn so that it didn't seem like she was lying) everybody was sitting in a circle in front of the couch, talking softly.

"Hey, what's up?" Keiko asked.

"We just thought of the best idea _ever_," Takuya announced with a wry grin.

"What is it?" Kouji asked.

"Spin the Bottle."

Everybody squealed excitedly and began chatting excitedly. Keiko smiled. "Okay!"

"What if Naoki comes down?" Junpei asked cautiously.

"He won't. He has no reason to. He felt bad enough that he had to interrupt us earlier. It's all good," she said, smiling.

"So what are we going to use for the bottle?" Kouji asked as he sat down between his brother and Michiko.

"Hang on, I'll go grab something from the recyclables," Keiko said as she scurried up the stairs. Naoki was sitting in the kitchen as she sifted through the recyclables.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"Getting a bottle," she answered as she reached down deeper.

"Here, you can use this." He lifted an old style glass bottle that he just finished drinking root beer from. He had a tendency to only get those types of bottles. "Playing Spin the Bottle?"

"Yeah," she answered as he handed the bottle, "You don't mind, right?"

"Eh, you're old enough. Just no sex or anything along those lines," he said, smiling.

Keiko grinned, "It's a deal. Thanks Naoki."

"Sure, just do me a favor," he said, looking at her with a sort of desperation. "I need your advice on something…"

"Okay," she said, leaning against the table.

"Um… I was thinking about going on a trip with Saburo, just the two of us… I wanted to know if you would be alright with Keiji for a week…" he said.

"Yeah, we'd be fine. If he starts a fire again, Ayaka can come stay, too." She smiled, "Well, can't keep everybody waiting. Thanks for the bottle, bye!"

"Bye, Keiko," he said, leaving the kitchen and going upstairs.

"I'm back," Keiko said as she sat between Izumi and Michiko.

"Hey, why don't the girls spread out more so that it's not all guy on guy action?" Takuya suggested.

"Okay," Izumi said, she moved away and sat a few people away from Keiko and Michiko did the same, sitting between the twins. **(1)**

"Okay, who wants to spin first?" Takuya asked.

"I will!" Michiko said happily. She grabbed a hold of the bottle and spun it. It went fast, around and around, reflecting the light off of it. As it slowed, it passed Tamotsu, Keiko, Takuya, Kouichi, then it landed on herself. "Damn it!" she cried. She kissed her hand than put it on her own cheek.

"My turn!" Junpei announced, grasping the bottle and spinning it. It spun and spun, finally landing to the person next to him. Izumi.

Izumi's eyes widened slightly, "Of course that would happen."

"It was meant to be," Junpei said cockily, puckering up his lips and leaning in to kiss Izumi. Izumi sighed and leaned in as well, kissing him lightly then pulling back.

Takuya looked pissed off, Kouji wouldn't look up and Kouichi simply took the bottle next. "My turn," he said. The bottle spun around, the mouth going around in circles rapidly. It began to slow down and it ended up landing on Michiko, who was on his right.

Michiko giggled and leaned in, taking the initiative and pecking him on the lips. She blushed as she pulled away, then giggled again. Kouichi cleared his throat and then scratched the back of his head.

"Alright, I'll go next!" Izumi said, smiling as she spun the bottle around. It landed on Tamotsu and the blonde could have sworn she saw steam come out of Keiko's ears.

Izumi leaned over the bottle and kissed him quickly, then pulled away quickly, shooting an apologetic look at her friend. Keiko smiled lightly back and all was well.

Keiko spun it next and felt like her stomach dropped when it landed on Kouichi. She laughed nervously when he leaned in, smiling at her. He kissed her gently on the lips, lingering a little longer than was necessary. When he pulled back, he stayed so their noses were touching.

Keiko smiled, "That was my first kiss…"

Kouichi smiled back and pecked her on the lips again, "And your second…"

Izumi and Michiko made catcalls as Kouichi and Keiko both took their rightful seats. Tamotsu looked at the brunette when she sat back down, and when the teal eyed girl looked back, he turned his head away.

"Woohoo!" Takuya exclaimed, grabbing the bottle. "My turn! Let's see which one of you hotties I get to kiss!"

Takuya felt his whole body go numb when the bottle landed. It was on Kouji. Kouji the boy.

"Alright, new try!" Takuya said, grabbing the bottle.

"No! You have to do it! Rules of the game!" Izumi squawked.

"You're kidding…" Kouji muttered.

"Nope! Now kiss him!" Keiko exclaimed.

"Do it, do it, do it, do it!" The girls were banging their fists on the ground and chanting and Takuya groaned and kissed the younger twin.

The girls all squealed and screamed as they kissed, and Izumi wiped her nose of traces of blood. When they pulled away, Izumi squealed, "Again!" and Kouji gave her the most venomous glare he ever had. Izumi swore that her eyebrows burned off, so she was silent immediately.

"My turn," Tamotsu said, taking the bottle and spinning it. It landed on Michiko. Tamotsu and Michiko had been friends forever, so it didn't faze either of them. With a quick kiss, the next person spun the bottle; Keiko.

"Okay," she said, spinning the glass bottle. It spun and spun, and the brunette found herself hoping it would land on Tamotsu. It slowed and went right past him, landing on Takuya instead.

Keiko and Takuya kissed for a moment, then sat back down. Keiko looked slightly frazzled.

They played for a little while longer, Junpei kissed Michiko; Kouji kissed Izumi; Izumi kissed Takuya; Keiko kissed Junpei; Michiko kissed Kouji; Tamotsu kissed Keiko; Kouji kissed Takuya and Izumi had to leave the room to stop the blood flow from her nose.

It was getting late, and they were all too tired to keep playing. "Where are we sleeping?" Takuya asked as he yawned.

"Um, you guys are sleeping down here, there's blankets behind the bar. And me and Michiko and Izumi are sleeping in my room," Keiko said.

"Alright, goodnight," Takuya said. Everybody said their goodnights and the girls headed upstairs.

They were getting changed into pajamas and Michiko groaned. "Jeez, Izumi. Why do you get the big boobs?" she asked with a grin.

Izumi looked down, "Well, they're not terribly huge, like, I've seen bigger."

Michiko rolled her eyes. "Don't make me laugh."

Izumi's eyes widened. "Okay, but seriously, they're normal sized."

"Yeah, _okay, _Izumi," Keiko remarked as she slipped into the bed.

Luckily the bed was big enough to fit all three of the girls, considering it was a king-sized mattress.

Keiko turned off the lights and curled up in the sheets, sighing blissfully. Just as she was dozing off, Michiko spoke up.

"Keiko?" she said softly.

"Huh? Yeah," Keiko replied tiredly.

"I… I think that… um…" Michiko cleared her throat. "I think I like Kouichi."

"Okay," Keiko muttered in her sleepy daze. And it wasn't until both of the girls were asleep that Keiko became aware of what Michiko said. And for some strange reason, Keiko felt her heart clench.

**

* * *

**

_Knock, Knock, Knock_

Keiko groaned and sat up. She looked blearily at the clock and realized with a groan that it was four in the morning. She tumbled out of bed and staggered to the door. She walked down the stairs, mumbling under her breath about late night visitors and how she would choke them.

The knocking continued and Keiko, still half asleep, opened the front door to see who was seeking entrance to her house.

She gasped as she realized she was looking down the barrel of a gun, said gun belonging to a very familiar, very angry looking Beezlemon.

"Where's Light?"

* * *

Cliffhangahh! :D I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and the interview coming out right after it!


	12. Interview 5: Keiko

**Interview 5: Keiko**

**Junpei: **

Junpei's a great person. He's extremely intelligent and he's pretty funny. I never would have thought I would become as close with him as I have, but it happened. Sometimes, I think that he is really… I don't know, cautious? Yeah, that's the word, or maybe weary. Yeah, but he's always cautious/weary around me and I begin to wonder why. Like, I've never done anything to him, so why would he be like that? I've never lied to him and I've never really done anything to make him upset with me, but whatever. I'll figure it out soon.

**Tomoki:**

Tomoki's like, this adorable, sweet kid. He's not really a kid anymore, but… you get the picture. It's amazing how much he's grown in the past year, he's become so much more conscious and smart and mature. He's definitely got a good head on his shoulders, and he's really down to earth. I hope that he grows up to be as great as he is now, I just can't stand the thought of him changing and separating from us. He's wonderful, really.

**Kouichi:**

Well, I think it's pretty obvious the way I feel about Kouichi. Well, it is right? I thought so. He's so kind and funny and adorable and we can talk and we get along so well. We share so many common interests and he's so much more mature than most guys that I know or hang out with. Just… he likes my _best friend _and… and if Izumi ever returned those feelings I couldn't mess things up! I just… he's so sweet and he's my type. I really doubt that he likes me back though, I mean, really? _Izumi _kind of likes him, and he likes her back, so seriously, am I even _in _the picture?  
…Exactly.

**Kouji:**

Okay, this one is… hard? Well, in the beginning, let's say from when we all first came until when we were in Toyland, I didn't really like Kouji that much. I guess you could say we tolerated each other after that and maybe after that we started to like each other as friends. Now…? Well, I think he's really obnoxiously attractive and he's kind of sweet… well, once you get to know him. He's pretty intelligent, but he's kind of mean. But, I think that he likes me more than he used to, just not like _that._ Not that _**I **_like him like that, obviously. _OBVIOUSLY!_ …Who am I kidding?

**Takuya:**

Alright, so Takuya's like, sort of like me, I think. We have a lot in common and we talk a lot and stuff, so it's cool. Sometimes, though, I think that he can be really hot headed and kind of controlling. Like, if we don't agree with his ideas, he has a cow. Maybe that's how all leaders are. Hmm. But yeah, he likes Izumi. A lot. And sometimes I think that's all we can talk about. His liking her. I mean, I don't mind if he just wants to talk, but can we not talk about how pretty she is or the funny thing she said for just one minute? Yeah, probably not. But anyway, I used to have like, the biggest crush on him in the Digital World, like, it was dangerous. I kind of like him, but he's more like a brother to me, rather than a boyfriend… I think.

**Izumi:**

Well, Izumi's my best friend. I don't really know what to say about that… Sometimes though I don't think that we're best friends, though. She pulls things on me that just really make me feel bad and she acts as if it's no big deal, but it really hurts. We've been through a lot together, though, and she's definitely a good person to have as a best friend. She listens and gives really good advice. She always comes to my sport events or dance recitals and she's always good at making me feel better if something bad happens. I think the pros outweigh the cons.


	13. Sing For Me, Now

**Review replies for chapter 11:**

**Momentai35: **Oh yeah, he's back with a vengeance. xD Thanks so much for the review! I'm glad you liked the chapter!

**My-little-star: **Yess! Keiko is falling into the trap of Kouichi…ness… :D I know, if I were Keiko and I woke up with a gun in my face (when I first wrote that it came out as 'gun in my pants' xD) I would be like, "Umm… Shit…" Thanks so much for your review! :D

**PurpleViolin: **I know! I love Happy Feet! When I was in like, fifth grade I would watch the Incredibles every morning before school because I was obsessed with it. xD Hohoho, Kouji may be seeing green with the whole Keiko and Tamotsu acting all lovey dovey. xD Hehe, a Kouichi and Keiko fan! :D Yeah, the Takishita brothers obviously have problems. :/ Poor guys. Haha, let's hope Beezlemon doesn't get to Kouji's sweet assback again. :D DUDE I WISH I COULD HAVE SEEN IT TOOO!!! Thank you for explaining inner me. xD Your review was really nice and long, thank you so much!

**Empyrea: **Yeah, there's romance in this, and more to come, even in this chapter. I just hope it doesn't turn you off to the whole fic! I'm glad you liked the chapter and the interview, and I hope you like this one too! Thanks for the review!

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **Isn't he the greatest? I love me some Beezlemon. xD Hohoho, Takouji is hotter than hell. :D I love it! Oh yes, you guys need to leave me boobs alonee. D:

**Yuki's Little Girl: **Hehe. :D Thank you for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Sydneybell24: **I'm honestly speechless with your review. I can't even begin to say how thankful I am for all the amazing things you said. I'm so glad Keiko has a place in your heart and I'm so, so shell shocked at the flawless way you interpreted the characters. I don't even have words to explain how much your review meant to me, so all I'm going to say is thank you very much, Sydney. You've been an idol to me, and I'm so happy that I'm able to have a wonderful writer such as you enter and beta my fic. Thanks so much for the review!

**Review replies for chapter 12:**

**Momentai35: **Oh my gosh! Your review was so nice, it made me have this huge smile on my face! :D I'm glad you think I make good OC's, and it's totally flattering that you think I'm one of the people who make the best ever! Thank you so much for your review! I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D

**My-little-star: **Ahaha, yeah Keiko, who ARE you kidding? :D I'm glad you think that I captured them perfectly! It's really, really sweet to say that! :D Hmm, Keiko and Kouji are destined to be? Hehe… the things I could do… :D Thank you so much for taking time to review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**PurpleViolin: **I tried to make each one longer than the others, because while we see the other six characters in the series and how they get along, it's a little harder to decode the way Keiko feels just by text. Hmm, maybe she _will _see the Izumi vs. Keiko thing. Muahaha. Yeah, just two left. Your idea sounds really good! I may do that in the future if you don't mind me using the idea! :D Thanks for the review, and I really hope you like this chapter!

**Celestial Writer: **Yeah, Keiko definitely matured, even though it wasn't her choice at all. You're right, maybe they will mend each other's hearts. :D Yeah, some of the things they all say remind me of my friends. And if it's in a good way, I'm glad it got you thinking! :D Thank you for the review! Hope you like this chapter!

**GirlsLikeeBoys: NAHHCE TO ME TOOOO! **:D Ohohoho, you seem to be at a crossroad between the twins. Ohohoho, you little squirrel. :D Thanks for the review dear, and I hope you like this next chapter! :D

**Sydneybell24: **I'm glad that you liked the explanations on the characters, and I also feel kind of bad that Kouichi doesn't like Keiko. D: Thank you for the review and I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D

Okay, you guys, want to hear something hilariously stupid? Okay, so the whole time I was spelling Beelzemon's name wrong. It's not Beezlemon it's Beelzemon. :D That's awful.. Sorry!

Anyway, though, I just wanted to let you all know your reviews absolutely blow me away. I'm so grateful that you all said such nice things about my story. Also, I hope you all know you can feel free to PM me with requests for chapters or anything. Or if you just want to talk or whatever. :D Enjoy the chapter kids!!

**

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**

Keiko stared at Beelzemon. He was just glaring at her, glaring like he was ready to kill her. "Well?" he said impatiently. He gave her an eerie grin, "I sense him here. You can tell me where he is, or I can just go get him."

"No," Keiko said, staring.

"No?" Beelzemon repeated.

"No," Keiko said again.

Beelzemon grabbed the brunette and threw her into the stairs. She gasped as pain shot through her arm and Beelzemon walked down the hall and towards the basement. At that point she had two options. Let Beelzemon go downstairs, where three legendary warriors could take him down and go upstairs and block off the bedrooms so that her brothers couldn't come down. Her other choice would be to go after Beelzemon now, and let the others hear her and help.

With a gulp, she chose the former and rushed upstairs. In the office, there was a master key to every room in the house. The house was old, and said key was a brass key with an intricate design on the end.

She pushed the key into Saburo's door and locked it, then she ran up another flight of stairs, locking the doors to both Naoki and Keiji's rooms. Stuffing the key in her pocket, she ran to her room and dragged a half-asleep Izumi out of bed, locking the door from the outside so that Michiko couldn't get out.

"Keiko! What's going on?" Izumi asked blearily as she tried to regain her balance with Keiko pulling her down the stairs like a madman. "Keiko!"

"Thunder fist!"

Lightning flashed in the sky and Izumi gasped. "Is that Beetlemon? What's going _on_, Keiko?"

Keiko opened to doors to the outside and found Lobomon, Agunimon, Lowemon and Beetlemon all fighting Beelzemon. Tamotsu was standing there with a shocked expression on his face. He looked at Keiko and tried to stutter something. "They… they ch-changed into those… those things and… what…?"

Keiko shook her head. "Don't worry about it, Tamotsu, get inside!" she said as Izumi transformed and joined the fight.

"Are you one of those things, too, Keiko?" he asked with a hysterical tinge to his voice.

Keiko just looked at him. "Yeah, but you have to get inside right now, Tamotsu. I promise I'll explain everything later!"

"No!" he cried, grabbing her arm as she went to transform. "You'll get hurt! I'm not leaving!"

Keiko pushed him into the house and slammed the door, turning around and yelling out the words to make her transform.

"Lobo Kendo!" Kouji yelled as he attacked Beelzemon from behind. The evil Digimon simply blocked from behind. He turned his head and smiled pleasantly at the light warrior.

"Pyro tornado!" Takuya kicked a twister Beelzemon, grinning as he realized the Digimon wasn't even paying attention.

Beezlemon didn't even have to look, he simply jumped up before the tornado was able to touch him.

"Kouji look out!" Kazemon yelled. "Hurricane Wave!" The tornado dissipated just in time for Kouji to be saved. Kazemon ran to the two boys. "Where is he?"

"Double Impact!"

Shots were being fired at them in an instant from above, hitting the boys' armor and hitting Kazemon's skin. She cried out and hit the ground.

"Izumi!" they yelled, shots still raining down on them painfully.

"Affection Ring!" The shots stopped and they looked up to see Veenomon floating above them with her gold ring in her hands, blocking the attacks.

"Lightning blitz!" Beelzemon was bowled over by electricity and he growled and turned around. He opened his palm and hit Beetlemon with a ball of darkness. The warrior of thunder flew to the ground with a sickening thud and he turned back into himself.

Beelzemon fell back towards Veenomon with a horrifying grin on his face. "Love shot!" she yelled, hitting him with a glowing arrow.

It simply bounced off of him and Beelzemon grabbed the warrior of love around the throat and threw her to the side, causing her to bash into the fence around the pool.

Beelzemon's eyes turned black as he kept falling towards the three warriors and the ground below them began to turn black, they were suddenly unable to move.

Beelzemon just kept falling to them, his eyes exclusively on Lobomon. Agunimon jumped up to the Digimon, pulling his fist back. "Pyro punch!"

Beezlemon blocked the punch and kicked Agunimon to the side, causing him to land in the fence too, knocking it completely over. He turned back into Takuya and groaned at the pain. Keiko was no longer Veenomon, either, she was laying in the fence.

Kazemon looked at Lobomon as Beelzemon kept falling.

"No Izumi!" he yelled.

Kazemon jumped up and kicked Beelzemon across the face. His head merely turned to the side and he grabbed the fairy Digimon's leg and thrust her to the side and over Lobomon's head.

Kouji felt as if he was frozen in place. His brain was screaming for him to go, but his legs were unable to move. He opened his mouth to try to scream, but it was too dry. Just the memory of what could have been before was causing acute terror to run through his system.

"Shadow meteor!"

Beezlemon was launched backwards and an armored arm ran around Lobomon's middle and pulled him backwards. "Are you okay, Kouji?" Lowemon asked.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks Kouichi," he said.

"No problem," Kouichi replied with a grin behind his armor.

"So," Beelzemon said, "Light and Dark are together? Hmm, do you really think you could defeat me?"

"We do," Lobomon said. "Lobo kendo!"

"Shadow lance!"

Raising both of their weapons in the air, Lowemon hit Lobomon's twin light swords and caused black to streak through them.

Lobomon jumped at Beelzemon and launched a flurry of attacks at him. Several actually hit the Digimon, and a couple even scathed him. _'Yes!' _Kouji thought, _'I could beat him!'_

Beelzemon ruined all of Kouji's hopes when he grabbed a hold of his head and kneed him in the face. Lobomon wailed as he turned back to normal and landed in the pool.

Keiko groaned and pulled herself out of the fence, getting splashed by Kouji falling into the water. Beelzemon came back over to them, raising a gun. He was pointing it at the figure that was under the water.

"No!" Takuya yelled and raised his hand up. Red surrounded said appendage and it turned into flames, which shot out at the evil Digimon.

Beelzemon flew backwards and slammed into a tree. Keiko's eyes widened. "Holy crap! How did you _do _that?" she cried.

"I don't-" Takuya began, but was interrupted by a frantic Kouji, who was screaming and flailing in the water.

"Help! Help me!" he screamed as he went back under the water.

The pool was extremely deep, at least 15 feet at the end of it. And yes, Minamoto Kouji could not swim. Yes, in the Digital World he fell into the river, and he went swimming at the beach, but on both occasions he could touch the bottom. He even fell off a bridge in ToyLand, but then before they even had a chance to swim to the surface, Pandamon had come and saved them.

Kouji tried to kick his legs and arms, but he was quickly losing air, and his panicking was making it harder to think. He kept sinking and sinking, a feeling of shame and dread washing over him. He thought he was going to drown, but a tan hand wrapped around his arm and he was pulled up to the surface.

He sputtered as he reached the surface and tried to no avail to swim to the edge. "Relax, Kouji. Hang on to me," a voice said. Kouji realized it was Takuya and he let the boy pull him to the edge and hoist him up. Kouji wasn't panicking as much, but he was still breathing harshly and shaking.

"Love shot!"

"Shadow meteor!"

"Hurricane wave!"

"Lightning blitz!"

"Kouji, are you okay?" Takuya asked.

Kouji nodded, "Yeah, let's just-"

He was interrupted by the horrific screams of his friends as Beelzemon unleashed an attack that sent them all into the ground. They all struggled to get back up and stop Beelzemon from getting to Kouji again, but the Digimon simply walked past the weakened warriors.

Beelzemon backhanded Takuya into the water and he grabbed Kouji, pushing him against the fence and spinning him around so his face was being crushed against the metal.

"You're really beginning to piss me off, you know. Getting all of your friends to attack me. I almost feel the urge…" He pushed the boy even harder into the fence, "To kill you." Beelzemon sighed as Kouji fought not to cry out at the feeling of his ribs being crushed. "But, Lucemon won't let us kill our targets. We can only take their spirits." Kouji felt Beelzemon's hand on the tattoo and he began to push to push on it from outside of his clothes. "So, I'm just going to have to-"

"Light Evol-"

Beelzemon hit Kouji's face against the fence. "Oh Light, enough of your antics, or I might actually have to do as I wish and terminate you." He paused. "What's this?"

Beelzemon was staring at an arrow that was coming towards him faster than he could imagine. Said arrow was surrounded by sparks of lightning and it was completely black in aura. As it passed, wind whipped everything in it's path. Beelzemon had no time to dodge the attack and he was sent into the other side of the fence.

He was about to get up, but he was hit by another arrow, this one even more powerful than the other. He growled in pain, and as he sat up, Veenomon was aiming another at his face.

"Leave," Lowemon said. "Her aim's never off."

Beelzemon snarled at the warrior of darkness and was about to hit the love warrior, but when he was that this arrow was glowing even brighter than the other two combined he ceased.

"Until we meet again, Light," he said, disappearing in a flash of darkness.

Veenomon lowered the arrow and turned back into her human self, and she looked devastated as she surveyed the property. A couple of trees were knocked down on the ground and the grass was singed. The expensive steel gates surrounding the gates were mangled and the marble pool floors were cracked.

Keiko looked like she was ready to scream, but a serene voice interrupted her breakdown.

"To return your favor," the voice said, "we will restore your world, as you have restored ours." It sounded a lot like Ophanimon's voice.

Snow like light came from the sky, sprinkling softly on the ground and causing it to glow. The gate was pulled back upright and the grass on the ground was restored to it's healthy state. The trees all connected to the stumps and with a glow were fused back into it. It looked as if nothing had ever happened.

They all looked towards the house and saw Tamotsu standing there, his jaw hanging open and his eyes bulging.

"Tamotsu?" Takuya said gently, walking over to him. "You need to try and be calm for a minute, and we can explain everything to you."

Tamotsu nodded slowly and they all walked into the house.

**

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**

"So you're all legendary warriors?" Tamotsu asked slowly.

six Digi-destined nodded. "And that thing is one of the Seven Demon Lords who are apparently out to steal your spirits…" More nodding. "And, and… Kouichi was evil and then he turned good and then came back to life?" More enthusiastic nods. "Okay. I think I'm getting it…" He looked at Keiko, "And how come you never told me this, cutie pie?"

Keiko blushed at the nickname Tamotsu bestowed on her and cleared her throat. "You never asked…"

"Guess you're right…" Tamotsu mumbled.

Kouji and Takuya were wrapped in big fluffy blankets and were dressed in some of Saburo's clothes that Keiko had gotten from the laundry room. "And you two can evolve into the most powerful Digimon?"

Takuya nodded. "That we've ever seen, at least…"

"Okay." Tamotsu nodded. "I think… I think I'm going back to bed. Goodnight…" he muttered, walking out of the living room they were situated in and heading to the basement to go back to sleep.

The six sat in silence, listening to the clock ticking away. "Kouji? How come we didn't know you couldn't swim?" Takuya asked slowly.

Kouji glowered. "Because," he spat, "it's embarrassing. That's the last thing I want you all to know."

Izumi perked up. "I could teach you how to swim! We have a pool and I'm a really good swimmer!" she said. "Besides, you never know when you'll need to use it at this rate."

Kouji grumbled as Keiko stretched her legs over the couch, reclining lazily. "Yeah. Swimming… helps." She sounded half asleep.

Junpei nodded as Keiko's slender legs went over his thighs. "We can all go. It won't be that bad, Kou…" He closed his eyes.

"Hey, you guys! Don't fall asleep here!" Izumi said even as he own eyes drooped.

Kouichi was already asleep on one of the plush armchairs, Takuya curled up at his feet, snoring softly. Izumi sighed. "Well, Kouji, looks like it's just me and-"

When she looked over at Kouji, he was curled up and facing away from her, sleeping soundly with his feet against Junpei's side.

Izumi mumbled something under her breath and moved over to Keiko, who was dozing a little bit. Luckily the couch was spacious and she laid next to her friend, pulling the blanket draped over the couch over them and falling into a comfortable sleep.

**

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**

School came back around and Tamotsu asked no more questions. He seemed to accept the fact that his friends were Legendary Warriors out to save the world. Naoki, Keiji, Saburo and Michiko didn't suspect a thing, as they were sleeping the entire time. The three brothers were a little bit sour at the fact that they were unable to open their doors in the morning.

"So, Kouji…" Takuya started off when the seven Digi-Destined sat in Izumi's living room, watching TV. "I heard that swimming in gym starts in a few weeks."

Kouji glared daggers at Takuya. "Yeah?" he spat. "What about it?"

"Well, I was thinking that maybe we should get to teaching you," he said.

Kouji snarled at him and glared at the TV, not answering Takuya.

"Oh, come on Kouji," Izumi said, patting his back. "It won't be that bad. We'll all help!"

"That's even more humiliating," Kouji snapped.

"I don't know how to swim, Kouji. Maybe we could learn together," Tomoki offered, smiling sweetly at the younger twin. Leave it to Tomoki to make everything better.

Kouji huffed. "Fine."

"Alright!" Takuya and Izumi shouted in triumph.

The blonde girl looked at Kouichi, Junpei and Keiko, who were laying all sharing an armchair. "You guys gonna help, too?"

They all looked over and shrugged, mumbling amongst themselves and nodding.

"Alright! This is gonna be great!" Takuya shouted.

"We'll do this tomorrow at my house, since it's Saturday, and it'll be at three! Bring your bathing suits!" Izumi added, smiling happily.

**

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**

The temperature was perfect when Saturday rolled around. It wasn't too hot, considering it was October and things were just starting to cool down. It had been a hot September, and it was feeling like the beginnings of June outside. It was enough to put everybody in a good mood.

Not Kouji, though. He was the last person who would be in a good mood. He had to learn how to swim with Izumi and Takuya, who were the last people who he wanted to learn how to swim from in their group of friends.

"Hey, Kouji!" Izumi said as she stood by the swimming pool in a pink bikini, which Kouji thought grudgingly, looked absolutely marvelous on her body. "Are you ready? Everybody's already here, they're just changing.

Kouji grumbled and pulled his shirt and shorts off. He already had his black board shorts on under his clothes. Izumi stared ravenously the whole time, staring at his chest and stomach as she took his clothes and put them on the table next to the pool.

The glass doors in the back of the house slid open and Takuya ran out, running through the gates and with a mighty leap, did a cannon ball into the pool. The splash hit Kouji and Izumi, causing the former to growl angrily.

"Whoo! The pool's perfect!" Takuya exclaimed, kicking through the water in the red and orange board shorts.

Kouichi came out, smiling at Kouji as he kicked his sandals off and put his towel on the table next to Kouji's clothes. He was wearing a pair of green and black board shorts.

Keiko and Tomoki came out, Tomoki saying something excitedly to the brunette, who was smiling and saying something back. Tomoki was wearing the same board shorts as Takuya. Keiko was wearing a pretty yellow bikini and was wearing her hair up in a ponytail, which swished back and forth as she walked.

Junpei came out last. Kouji noted that he certainly lost weight since they were in the Digital World. Most traces of fat were gone from his body, but he did have a larger build than the others. He was wearing yellow board shorts and had just finished texting somebody on his phone.

"Everybody ready?" Izumi asked with a smile. When she received nods from everybody but the sulking Kouji she smiled. "Okay! Everybody get in!"

Takuya was already in and he yelled for Keiko to jump off the diving board and he would catch her. Keiko grinned and got onto the long white board, springing up and down on it.

Tomoki climbed into the shallow end of the pool and was thankful when the water was only three feet deep. Sure, he was ten years old, but nobody had ever taught him how to swim. Junpei hopped into the middle of the pool without hesitation, Izumi jumping in after him.

Kouji stared at the water and slowly climbed into the shallow end of the pool. It didn't go too high on him, but he really didn't like the thought of learning how to swim. His twin was next to him, smiling reassuringly at the teen and patting his back. "It'll be okay, it'll be really easy, I promise."

Kouji sighed and nodded. Of course it wouldn't be that bad, it was just swimming after all…

Keiko was laughing as Takuya held his tan arms out for her to jump into. "You sure you won't get hurt?" she asked.

Takuya laughed, nodding. "It'll be fine, you won't get hurt either! Come on! Jump!"

Keiko jumped and Takuya managed to catch the brunette, sending both of them a few feet down in the pool. That made Kouji even more nervous. Just thinking about jumping into the pool made him want to scream like a girl and run home. When the brunettes resurfaced laughing he stiffened, it was time.

"Okay, Kouji go to the edge over here, and Tomoki, over to that edge," Takuya instructed. "Me and Izumi are going to teach Kouji."

Kouji's eyes widened. "What?!? I did _not _agree to that! You guys are _not _going to teach me!"

"What's wrong, Kouji?" Takuya asked innocently. "Scared that I might outdo you?"

Kouji's eye twitched and the people in the pool could have sworn that the water around Kouji was boiling with his anger. "Hell no," he snarled, going to the edge of the pool.

Keiko sighed. "Alright, Tomoki, come this way," she said.

**

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**

Kouji was terrified. He had only learned the doggy paddle for a few minutes and already Takuya and Izumi demanded him to jump off the diving board and into the deep end.

"Jump, Kouji!" Izumi yelled.

He looked over to where Tomoki and his group was and he sighed when he was that Keiko was swimming backwards and Tomoki was swimming towards her with no problem. Why, oh why, did he have to get stuck with these two?

"Jump!" Takuya yelled.

Kouji held his breath, closed his eyes and jumped into the water. He almost panicked when he went under, but he began to kick and paddle to the top, and his head broke the surface. He kept up the paddling motions with his arms and legs and swam to the edge, where Takuya and Izumi were cheering for him.

He almost smiled, but he was still a little bit scared. "Great job, Kouji!" Kouichi yelled from across the pool, and this time, Kouji did smile, waving to his brother happily. Junpei, Keiko and even Tomoki echoed Kouichi's statement and Kouji thought that he'd never been so proud.

**

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Sorry if I barraged you all with character development this chapter. I thought it was needed, and we might get some more in this next chapter. Ohohohoo.


	14. Interview 6: Izumi

**Interview 6: Izumi**

**Tomoki:**

Tomoki's like a younger cousin to me. He's really funny and really sweet, but like all boys, he lacks a certain amount of maturity. He used to cry all the time and I think before we all babied him, but he's grown a lot, and believe it or not, he's usually the one that diffuses the fights between Kouji and Takuya. He's a great kid, and he'll definitely grow up to be a good guy.

**Junpei:**

Junpei's really nice, and I know for a fact that he likes me, but… I just don't feel the same way. When he got his beast spirit and got my spirit back, I started to like him, but I think after a while it dimmed down, because he made a fool out of himself a lot in the Digital World. I care about him as a friend, and I never want to see him get hurt or anything, but sometimes, he just really gets on my nerves…

**Kouichi:**

Kouichi is probably one of the sweetest, most caring people I've ever met. He's always there for us, and he really is the glue holding us all together. I don't really have romantic feelings for him per se, but I'd love for him to get with somebody wonderful. I think that Kouichi cares more about other people rather than himself, and that becomes a problem, because even though it's a good thing, he'll run into problems with it, because he won't be taking care of his wants, and instead he'll be making sure other people are happy.

**Kouji:**

Kouji's really, really, really, really hot. He's the kind of guy that everybody likes, because he's a badass, he's **hot, **he kind of has that air about him that makes him seem like he'll do whatever he wants and if you get in his way he'll kill you, and well… he's really hot. I'm obviously attracted to him, not just physically, but I like him because I think I've uncovered things about him that aren't mean or cold. Like, he doesn't show it, but he watches out for Takuya more than anybody besides his brother, and he definitely has a soft spot for him. He's kind of protective of Tomoki and he acts kind of mean to Junpei for his own good and he's always treating Keiko with respect, so all in all, he's great to all of us. He's just a little bit stubborn, but aren't we all?

**Takuya:**

I really like Takuya. He just… I don't know, we connect on a ton of levels. We have so much in common, and I admire his leadership skills. He's got a kind of hero thing going on, and it's really charming. I love his eyes, because brown eyes on guys are my absolute favorite. He has a really adorable smile and his laugh and his voice make me smile a lot. He's always determined and he's always looking out for us, and I'd say he's just about one of the bravest people I've ever met. I just… sometimes I think that he likes Michiko more than he likes me. She's really pretty, and he calls her a hottie, so sometimes I wonder if he feels the same way about me…

**Keiko:**

Keiko is my absolute best friend. Before the Digital World, I was stuck up and I didn't want to make friends and all the girls in my school didn't like me, but once we went to the Digital World, she immediately became my friend. The first time I saw her was when she completely rolled down and hill and almost got killed, but she's definitely worked out her coordination skills since then. Actually, I'm more of a klutz then her. Keiko's really pretty, and her personality is amazing. She's mature, but she also has a childish, fun side to her. She's patient about a lot of things and she's always standing up for what she thinks is right. Keiko is kind of like my role model. The only thing though, is recently, I kind of feel like she's trying to distance herself from me. I'm not saying that she is, but lately we haven't been hanging out. I really hope she doesn't hate me or anything…


	15. Bang, Bang, And She's Dead

* * *

Keiko groaned as she walked back into the school. She had decided to go out and practice soccer drills, and run the track until her feet ached to the bone. She smelled sweaty and felt gross, and she was eager to get into the showers.

Practice was held at the high school, where the track was located. The athletes from the middle school got to use the high school locker rooms and showers before and after practices and games. The high schoolers didn't mind, as long as they didn't mess anything up or get it dirty or anything.

Keiko winced with every step she took up the stairs. Her feet were killing her. She knew she overdid it when she ran sometimes. She had run six miles around the track and then done more drills. Naoki was always chastising her for working out too hard, but she just liked the feeling she got after she worked out.

She walked down the halls, which were completely silent. Nobody was there, considering that it was already eight at night. She was dripping in sweat and she wanted nothing more than to take a nice hot shower. She reached the locker room door and she turned the handle, finding it was locked.

"Shit…" she muttered, pushing a little harder and jiggling the doorknob. She put all her weight into turning the doorknob, and it was official. She was locked out. She groaned. She really wanted nothing more than to wash away the sweat and dirt. She cringed at the thought of putting on her clothes and showering at Izumi's, just thinking about stewing in her own sweat for another 15 minutes made her sick.

She looked at the door to the boys locker room and turned the knob, finding that it was unlocked. She stared at the door and opened it a little more; it was empty. She walked in.

**

* * *

**

"It's man day," Takuya had announced at lunch earlier the same day.

Everybody stared up at him with questioning eyes. Keiko tilted her head to the side in a way that was so cute that it made Izumi want to glomp-tackle the brunette. "What's man day?"

"It's a day where all of us guys get together and we talk about stuff and we drink soda and burp a lot!" he said.

"Takuya, you guys do that anyway," Izumi said.

Takuya shook his head and stood up. "No! It's not the same because you _skirts_ are there!"

Silence overcame the table. The twins were staring with their jaws hitting the table. Michiko was glaring harshly at Takuya, while Tamotsu's eyes were wide and he tried to say something, but he couldn't due to his stuttering. Keiko's eye was twitching and Izumi looked so unfathomably angry that grown men would cry.

"Skirts?" Izumi yelled, standing up. "You sexist pig! I'll kill you!" she screamed.

"Um… run?" Kouji suggested to the brunette.

Takuya was galloping out of the lunch room faster than anybody had seen him run before, and Izumi was close behind.

Kouichi blinked twice and cleared his throat. "So um… if we do end up doing this guy's night thing, will you both be able to come?"

Kouji nodded. Tamotsu looked a bit disappointed. "I don't think I could. I promised my dad I would get some practice in before the big game in a couple days… Are you ready for it, cutie?" Tamotsu asked Keiko, pinching her cheek lightly.

Keiko fought the blush as well as she could, and a light dusting of pink went across her cheekbones. "I hope so. I've been running a little bit more," she said.

Tamotsu laughed. "Damn it, you're cute!" he exclaimed.

Keiko muttered something under her breath. Tamotsu laughed again and turned back to Kouichi. "I'm sorry that I can't go. I'll have to tell Takuya if he survives the wrath of Izumi."

"He's a trooper," Kouichi supplied with a light smile.

"Yeah, but Izumi's a beast," Tamotsu retorted, smiling as well.

Izumi came back, smiling. "Hey guys," she said.

"Where's Takuya?" Michiko asked.

Izumi smiled evilly. "Probably trying to get out of the toilet I stuffed him in."

"Wow, you're really serious about this sexist stuff," Tamotsu said, laughing a little bit.

"Well, guys don't have demeaning names that girls can call them. So I'd say the score's even," she said, smiling at the green eyed boy.

Tamotsu nodded. Takuya came walking back several minutes later, he wasn't wearing his jeans anymore, they were replaced with his gym shorts. "You suck, Izumi," he said as he sat at the table.

"Hey, Takuya?" Tamotsu said. Takuya peered up at him. "I can't come tonight. I'm practicing soccer tonight…"

Takuya nodded. "It's at nine. You could probably come," he said.

The bell rang, and all the teens headed off to their respectable classes. Keiko began to walk down the hall towards her math class when Izumi grabbed her shoulder. "Keiko?"

"Yeah?" Keiko turned around and smiled at the blonde.

"You want to sleep over tonight? We haven't really had a girls' night in a while, you know?"

Keiko smiled. "Sure, Izumi. It'll probably have to be late, though. I was going to get some practice in. So maybe I could come over at nine?"

Izumi nodded. "I'll pick you up from the school," she said.

"Okay, see you then," Keiko said, smiling and walking away.

**

* * *

**

"Happy Man day!" Takuya said happily as Kouji and Kouichi walked into his apartment that night.

"Um… Thanks?" Kouichi said, tilting his head a little bit.

"Right this way!" Takuya said, ushering them into the living room, where a TV was set up with a ton of movies and a box of pizza and wings.

"Wow, you really meant it when you said we were going to have a 'Man Day'," Kouji said.

Takuya nodded enthusiastically. "I hope you didn't eat dinner," he said. Kouichi's stomach grumbled. He and Kouji hadn't just because the brunette begged them not to eat until they went over at eight.

"Yay! Okay, let's watch some movies and eat! What do you want to watch first? _Die Hard _or _Fast and Furious?" _he said, holding up the aforementioned movies in his hands.

"_Die Hard,_" Kouji said and Kouichi echoed the statement.

**

* * *

**

"Hello?" Keiko called as she walked into the boy's locker room. "Hellooooo!"

She heard no signs that anybody was in there and with a sigh, she made a beeline for the showers, taking her shampoo out of her bag. She peeled off her clothes and dropped them onto the ground, turning on the water and getting behind the curtain.

Luckily, there were separate shower stalls rather than one large shower. Keiko sighed happily as the sweat and dirt in her hair began to wash out. It was nice to finally be able to feel clean after hours of working out.

Just as she finished rinsing the soap off of her body and the shampoo out of her hair, she heard the door open and close. She felt her heart stop in it's chest. This couldn't be happening, this was just insane.

She slowly opened to shower curtain and peered out. When she saw who it was, she almost threw up.

**

* * *

**

Izumi stood in the chips and dip aisle. She was stuck between getting chips and salsa, or getting potato chips and _Heluva Good_ dip. She tilted her head and sighed, she really wished Keiko would pick up her phone, because she couldn't decide.

"Hey."

Izumi turned around and saw a boy from her art class. He was a baseball player, and a very cute one at that. He always flirted with her during class. "Hey," she replied.

"Chips?" he asked.

She nodded. "I can't pick between chips and salsa, or potato chips… Me and Keiko, you know Takishita Keiko?" The boy nodded. "Well, we're having a sleepover tonight and I don't know what kind of chips she likes…"

"Well, I would pick chips and salsa, since you already have French fries in your basket. You can't overdo it with potato based foods, you know?" he said.

Izumi smiled. "Yeah. Thanks."

"No problem, so I'll see you around?" he inquired.

"Yeah… um, I feel really stupid asking you this, but… what's your name again?" She felt her face go red.

He smiled. "I'm Asashi."

**

* * *

**

It was Tamotsu. Tamotsu was walking into the locker room. Keiko squeaked quietly and grabbed her towel and clothes, running out of the shower. She looked around frantically and when she saw him turn down the corner and start heading down her way, she jumped into a locker, one facing the showers, and shut it.

She was small enough to fit, but not small enough for it to be comfortable. She was squished up into a little ball as she hid behind her towel.

Tamotsu walked over and stopped at the shower right in front of her. She felt a great urge to scream hysterically at her luck. He put the towel on the rack next to the stall and kicked off his shoes and pulled off his socks.

Keiko was ready to begin hyperventilating, but she kept a hand clamped over her mouth. Tamotsu, with his back facing the brunette, put his hands under the bottom of his shirt and slowly slid it over his head. Keiko stared at the muscles rippling in his back and shoulders as he tossed the shirt to the ground.

Next, he unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, bending over slightly and pushing them down to his feet, stepping out of him. Keiko's brain was screaming for her to close her eyes, since it was obvious what he was going to take off next, but her aquamarine eyes were glued on his perfectly shaped legs.

He put his fingers in the hem of his boxers and bent over a little to slide them down. Keiko felt as if she was going to explode due to the heat in her face, but she kept staring at the motions he was making as he stepped out of his underwear and got into the shower, pulling the curtain closed behind him and turning on the water.

Slowly, Keiko opened the locker door and she slid out of the locker. She got behind one of the rows of lockers and got dressed into her clean clothes as quickly as she could. She gave a parting glance to the beautiful blonde in the shower and walked out of the locker rooms. "Perfect ass…" she muttered as the doors closed quietly behind her.

**

* * *

**

Keiko had called Izumi, who said she would be there in a half hour to pick her up. Keiko was sitting on the railing that circled around the side entrance to the high school. She had calmed down a little bit, but she was still obviously flustered that she had seen the object of her affection's ass.

'_Which was nice and tight…' _she added mentally and sighed. She liked this guy so much.

"Hey cutie."

Keiko almost screamed and ran away when she heard the all too familiar voice say something to her from behind. She turned and plastered a smile to her face when she saw the blonde who was naked before her eyes only minutes before.

"Hey, Tamotsu," she said.

"Waiting for your ride?" he asked as he sat next to her.

"Y-Yeah… Izumi's picking me up, because we're having a sleepover thing…" Keiko said.

"Yeah? My parents are picking me up and dropping me off to Takuya's, you know, for the 'Man Day' thingy," he said.

"What are they like… your parents?" Keiko asked.

"My parents are pretty cool, I mean, for parents at least. My mom's really nice, and she's a really good cook and everything and she's always saying she loves me and stuff, and my dad's always helping me out with sports and stuff," he said.

"You have an older brother, right?" she asked.

He nodded. "And a younger sister. My brother's seventeen and my sister's nine. We all get along pretty well. My sister's always asking me to bring Asashi home, because she has the biggest crush on him," he said, laughing lightly.

She smiled. "That's cute." She paused. "Asashi… he's your best friend, right?"

Tamotsu smiled and nodded. "Yep, we've been best friends since third grade. He's… he's really great. But I've known Michiko for that long too, and I'd say she's my other best friend."

"That's sweet," she said, smiling a little bit.

"Your best friend is Izumi, right?" he asked.

"She is. We've only known each other for two years, but sometimes it feels like it's been a lot longer than that," she said.

"Yeah…" he said. "Well, it kind of has been. It must've felt like you were in the Digital World for a while, huh?"

She nodded. "I've never thought of it that way…"

A tan SUV pulled up and Tamotsu stood up. "Hey, why don't you wait with us in the car until Izumi comes, it's a lot warmer inside."

Keiko waved a hand. "No, it's fine, she'll be another ten minutes. I don't want to make you guys wait."

"It's no problem, you shouldn't have to wait out here," Tamotsu admonished, pulling her into the car with him.

There was a younger girl buckled into the seat next to Tamotsu, who was in the middle. She had blonde hair that was a little lighter than Tamotsu's, and her eyes were the same color as Tamotsu. She looked a lot like him.

"Hey, mom?" Tamotsu asked as he shut the door behind Keiko. "Keiko had to wait another ten minutes for a ride, and it wouldn't be fair to make her sit outside, so is it okay if she sits with us here for a while?"

"Sure, sweetie," she said, from the passenger seat, smiling at him. She looked at Keiko, who was a little bit red in the face. "Hi, Keiko."

"Hi," she said, smiling at the pretty dirty blonde haired woman.

"And that's my dad," Tamotsu said, pointing to a brown haired man in the driver's seat.

"Nice to meet you," he said, turning around and offering her a little smile.

"And this is my sister, Chiharu," he said.

The little girl smiled at Keiko. "Hi," she said, then she tilted her head a little bit. "Aren't you a soccer player?"

Keiko nodded and smiled. "Yeah," she said.

"I think I've seen you play before, you're really good," she said in a cute voice. Keiko already liked her.

"Thanks," the brunette said with a smile.

"Hey, Tamotsu, guess what?" Chiharu said, smiling at her brother.

"What?" Tamotsu asked.

"Me and Matsui, we went played tennis today, and I won!" she said, smiling happily.

"Haha, you beat Matsui? Great job, Chiharu!" he said, giving the little girl a high-five. He looked at Keiko. "Matsui's my older brother." Keiko nodded and smiled.

A car pulled up across the parking lot, and Keiko realized that it was Izumi and her mother. "Oh, Izumi's here. Um, thanks for letting me sit in the car. It was really nice to meet you all!" She waved and left the car, walking across the parking lot to Izumi's car.

Tamotsu's mom turned around as his father pulled out and headed down the road. "I didn't realize you liked the Keiko from the Takishita family," she said, smiling.

"Yeah, well you never asked for her last name…" Tamotsu said, blushing a little bit.

"She's nice!" Chiharu said. "I approve of her!"

Tamotsu smiled. "Thanks Chiharu…"

"She's a very sweet girl, Tamotsu," his mother added. "Your kids would be really adorable."

"What?!?" Tamotsu squawked indignantly. "Mom, I don't even know if she likes me, or if we're going to get married and have _kids _nonetheless!"

His mother smiled and laughed. "I'm sure she likes you, sweetie. I don't know who wouldn't." Tamotsu muttered something under his breath and his mother laughed again. "I just love you kids so much," she said, turning around in his seat.

**

* * *

**

"That chick looks like Izumi," Takuya said offhandedly as they watched a scene on _Die Hard_.

"She kind of does…" Kouichi said, then he blushed. "She's really pretty."

"Who? Izumi or the person on the movie?" Kouji asked.

"Both, but I was talking about Izumi…" Kouichi replied.

"Yeah, Izumi is really pretty. I like her smile," Takuya said dreamily.

Kouji smirked. "I just like blondes in general…"

Takuya was about to say something, but he was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Ah, hang on, it might be Tamotsu."

The brunette stood up and walked to the door, greeting the sandy blonde and leading him into the living room. "You can have some pizza if you want," Takuya said.

"I think I will. I haven't eaten since lunch, and I just finished running like, five miles…" Tamotsu said, grabbing a slice and sitting down on the couch.

"Did you see Keiko while you were there? She said she was going to practice at the school," Kouichi said.

"Yeah, I saw her just as I was leaving, she was waiting for Izumi to pick her up, so I waited with her," he said as he took a bite out of the pizza. "She's so freaking cute…"

Takuya laughed. "Man, you've really got it bad for her, dude," he said. "Yeah, she's cute. I kind of like Izumi more though, she's majorly hot…"

Tamotsu nodded. "Yeah, but if you really look at Keiko, she makes like, the hottest expressions. And she has a cute little butt." He laughed as his cheeks turned a little bit pink. "Yeah, but I don't understand why she's still single. She's too sweet…"

Kouichi tilted his head a little bit. "Well, if you like her so much, why don't you ask her to go out with you?"

Tamotsu shrugged. "I don't even know if she likes me…"

"She does," all three boys said in completely serious voices.

Tamotsu smiled a little bit. "Sweet."

**

* * *

**

As soon as Keiko and Izumi were in the blonde's bedroom, Keiko screamed and jumped into the bed.

"Ah… Keiko? What's wrong?" she asked.

"I saw… I… I saw…" Keiko stuttered.

"Keiko? Talk to me. What did you see? Do you see dead people like that guy that does Sora's voice?" (**A/N: **That's for you, Morgan. :D) Izumi asked.

"No! No, I…" Keiko sighed and sat up. "Okay, so after practice I was all sweaty and I needed a shower so bad but the door to the girls' locker room was _locked_ and I couldn't just wait to come here to shower so I went to the boys' locker room and nobody was there so I just went there and took a shower but in the middle of my shower TAMOTSU came in and he was all coming in my direction and stuff so I hid in a locker and then he got all naked in front of me and I just happened to see Tamotsu's sexy tight ass!!!" She took a deep breath. "And Izumi… it was hot."

Izumi's green eyes were wide and her mouth was wide open. She looked like she was about to go into shock. But suddenly she started squealing and hopping up and down on her pink bed. "NO WAY!!! NO WAY NO WAY NO WAY!!!" She grabbed Keiko's face in her hands. "Did you see his-"

"No! No, he wasn't facing me…" She blushed. "But he umm… I got a pretty good look at his umm…"

"Ass?"

"Yeah."

"Oh my God! If I saw Takuya's ass, I don't even know what I would do!" Izumi said, throwing her hands up in the air.

"Um… Takuya?"

Izumi's eyes widened. "I meant Tamotsu."

"No you didn't. You meant Takuya! Oh ho ho ho! You like _Takuya?!?" _she exclaimed.

"N-No! Stop trying to change the subject here! I know what you're trying to do!" Izumi squawked.

"Oh no, it seems like _you're _the one who's trying to change the subject! Oh man, I knew you must've liked him, but you blurt out his name instead of Tamotsu's?!? Oh, that's rich, Izumi!" Keiko was laughing hysterically at this point.

Izumi snarled and threw a pillow at the aquamarine eyed girl. "Shut up!"

Keiko, who was still laughing, threw the pillow back. "You!"

And, in a waterfall of fluffy feathers, Izumi and Keiko had the most fierce pillow fight they ever would.

**

* * *

**

"Okay," Takuya said as the clock on the wall showed it was one o'clock in the morning, "on a scale of one to ten, one being the worst, ten being the best, Izumi's… boobs." Takuya grinned. "Because it's a ten for me!"

"Erg, ten," Tamotsu said, receiving a high five from the brunette.

"Pass," Kouichi muttered.

"Ten," Kouji said.

"My turn!" Tamotsu exclaimed. "Okay, on a scale of one to ten, Izumi's… Izumi's hair. I'd give it an eight, or maybe a seven."

"Nine," Kouji said.

"Umm, eight I guess…" Takuya added.

"Eight," Kouichi said, agreeing with Takuya.

"On a scale of one to ten, Keiko's… I don't know, her clothes? Like, fashion sense, I guess," Kouji said. "I'd say ten."

Tamotsu nodded. "I'd say a ten, too."

"Yeah, ten," Kouichi said.

"Ten. Well, both girls always get good clothes, but I don't really see Keiko wear something more than three times. That rich… thing…" Takuya mumbled.

"Okay, on a scale of one to ten, Keiko's generosity," Kouichi said with a smile. "Because for me it's a ten."

"Dude, you're never going to do physical things, are you?" Takuya asked with an amused expression. "Ten."

"Ten," Tamotsu and Kouji said at the same time.

"On a scale of one to ten, we'll do Keiko's body, like the whole thing and how it looks as a whole," Takuya said. "I'd say seven or eight. She's kind of flat…"

"Yeah, an eight," Kouji agreed.

"I like her body," Kouichi said. "I'd give it a nine."

"A nine for me too, the legs kind of do it for me," Tamotsu said. "Scale of one to ten, Izumi's sense of humor." Tamotsu tilted his head a little. "Well, I've only heard her make a joke a few times, so probably a five or six."

"Izumi's really funny," Kouichi said. "Eight or nine."

"Seven," Kouji mumbled.

"Yeah, I'd give it a seven, too…" Takuya said, smiling a little bit.

"Okay," Kouji said. "Izumi's teeth… I'd say a nine."

"Eight or nine," Tamotsu said ponderingly.

"Nine," Kouichi said and Takuya echoed his statement.

"This one's kind of weird," Kouichi said, "but how about Keiko's voice? I actually like her voice a lot, so it's like… a nine?"

"Ten… I love her laugh, too," Tamotsu said, smiling a little bit.

"I'd say a nine," Takuya added.

"Ten," Kouji said.

"Okay, next game…" Takuya said. "Say the thing about them, like, physically, I guess, starting with… Izumi."

**

* * *

**

"So according to this Seventeen quiz, your best bet is to go for guys you've known for a while, because you're hesitant to let new people get into your head," Izumi said, tapping her chin thoughtfully.

Keiko looked at the quiz. "Yeah?"

Izumi nodded. "Yeah… Okay, what were my results from the quiz?"

"You got the third one," Keiko said, pointing to the description on the magazine.

"It says that… I'm open to everybody and I'm easy to make new friends and meet new people. It says not to be to quick to jump into a relationship, though, because that's how… you get your heart broken," Izumi said, trailing off. She shrugged. "So I met that cute guy from my math class when I was getting the chips," she said.

"Really?" Keiko asked. "Who was it?"

"Asashi, the baseball player," she said, wiggling her eyebrows.

"That's Tamotsu's best friend," Keiko pondered.

"Dude, what if we both dated them at the same time? Like, best friends dating best friends!" Izumi squealed.

"Chyeah! That'd be so cool!" Keiko said in agreement, smiling at the blonde. "Asashi's really cute. You should go with him to the Halloween dance," she said, walking over to her bag and putting on her pajamas, a red tank top and purple and red shorts.

"I don't know… I was actually thinking about asking Takuya or maybe Kouji. Unless of course you wanted to ask one of them. I'll take the leftovers," Izumi said with a smile.

"Well, I was going to see if Tamotsu wanted to go. I don't know who I would ask though, if he couldn't come, I mean. So, go ahead and ask them," Keiko ended her mini-rant with a smile.

"Okay, thanks Keiko," Izumi said, smiling.

**

* * *

**

Kouichi started. "Well, I think that Izumi's, like, size. She's tall and she's thin, but she's not too thin and she has curves at the same time, but she's not so curvy that it's unbecoming…"

Kouji tapped his chin for a moment. "I think that mine is her hair. I dunno, I like blonde hair a lot and it makes it even more attractive that she has long hair, too."

"I like her smile," Tamotsu said in a slightly quiet voice. "Whenever she smiles her eyes kind of get brighter. Like, at first, I used to think her smile was cheesy, but once you really look at it, it's like, really, really pretty."

Takuya grinned. "I like her overall appearance, I guess. Like, the way that everything fits together. Like, her eyes compliment her hair, which compliments her skin, and so on and so forth. She's just… she's really pretty." He flushed slightly then cleared his throat. "Okay… We'll do Keiko now."

Tamotsu smiled. "I like Keiko's face. The expressions she makes are too adorable sometimes. And she sometimes just kind of looks to the side or something, and you really get a good look at her face, you realize how seriously pretty she is."

"Man, I wish she could have heard that. She would seriously lose her mind if she knew you liked her so much," Takuya said with a laugh.

Tamotsu smiled. "She would?"

Takuya nodded. "Alright, my favorite thing about Keiko are her eyes. They're really cool! Like, they're not blue, but they're not green, because they're both, and they're not dark, they're bright, but not obnoxiously bright."

"I kind of like her size. I already said the same thing about Izumi, but Keiko's is completely different. Like, she's almost small, but she's not. She's thin and everything, and she's not as curvy as Izumi, but she has prettier legs and arms and shoulders."

"I like her face, I guess," Kouji said. "Not to copy you or anything Tamotsu… I don't know, just the way she looks at you sometimes, like these calculating looks she sometimes gives are almost startling."

"Startling?" Takuya asked.

"Pretty," Kouichi clarified and Kouji nodded.

"I wonder if the girls are talking about us now…" Takuya said.

**

* * *

**

"No, I totally agree that Takuya has a cute butt. But I'd say that Tamotsu's is better. You just have to see it," Keiko said, eyeing the blonde who was currently practicing her tattooing skills with markers on Keiko's leg.

"We'll just have to wait until school. Ooh! Why don't I go to that big soccer game thing! Then I could rate _every _guy's butts!" Izumi suggested with an evil cackle.

"…_Creep,_" Keiko said.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah… Who do you think is better looking between Kouji and… Hotaka?" Izumi asked, smiling at the aquamarine eyed teen.

"Kouji. Hotaka's cute too, but he's too…" Keiko laid back. "He's too, like, manly. Like, Kouji's kind of slender, but Hotaka's like a beef patty." The brunette raised an eyebrow at her own words. "That doesn't make sense…"

"No, I get you. He's too like, buff and football playerish?" Izumi asked.

"Yeah!" Keiko said, snapping her fingers. "I like guys that aren't too buff, but aren't too thin."

"Like Tamotsu?" Izumi suggested.

Keiko pinched the blonde's leg with her toes. "Yeah. Takuya's kind of like that too, I guess… Hey, Izumi?"

"Yeah?" Izumi answered, going back to coloring in a flower on Keiko's ankle.

"Um, what would you say if, hypothetically of course, I um… I liked one… or, uh, two of the guys? N-Not including Tamotsu?" Keiko asked, twiddling her thumbs.

"I'd say, tell me," Izumi said, looking up at her best friend.

**

* * *

**

Yeah, I'm that horrible. So, read and review everybody! I'll get the interview and the review replies out tomorrow. Where I am it's 5 in the morning, so I'm really tired. See ya! :D


	16. Interview 7: Takuya

Sorry this is so late! It's been a really bad couple of days and then fanfiction wasn't working very well. I broke up with my boyfriend because he was caught cheating… I've been spending a couple of days talking to him, and we're trying to work things out. But enough about me.

So I'm going to get a chapter out within two days, no matter what. I also wanted to have a little **contest**. We all know (AND LOVE) Tamotsu. He has a lot of similarities with a character from a completely different fandom. Sydney and Morgan, you already know who this is, so unfortunately you can't take part in this. But here are the hints:

1) The fandom was not originally an anime.

2) It was known as one of the most famous videogames in history, starring a blonde featherhead.

3) The character is obnoxiously attractive. xD

Well, whoever figures out the character first, gets tell me what they would like to see in the next chapter, and no matter how crazy it is, I'll have to write it! Do your research! And well, if you don't wind, Sydney and Morgan get to tell me what they want. Hahaha! Enjoy!

**Interview 7: Takuya**

**Tomoki: **

Tomoki's my little buddy! He's so much like me, so of course I like the little guy! He's grown so much since the Digital World, you know, he doesn't cry as much at all, he's brave, he's more mature. We've all seen so much growth in him, and that makes me really proud, because he's like a little brother to me.

**Junpei:**

Junpei and I obviously have our differences. He's a good guy, but at times I really doubt he likes me. At times he's so hung up on Izumi, and he gets mad at me because he thinks she likes me more than she likes him. There's a lot of good about him though! I just… I don't really know what that is sometimes.

**Kouichi:**

Kouichi is… well he's my best friend's brother, so… Well, I do like Kouichi, and I think he likes me, but he's kind of confusing at times. Well, I think he wastes so much time thinking about other people, that he doesn't do things for himself. He's always doing what's right for Kouji, or me or Izumi or something, and he's always picking himself last. I've told him that before, and so has Keiko, but every time he says something like, 'well, maybe that's the best thing' For some reason, I think he's still looking for redemption after the whole Duskmon/Velgemon think in the Digital World.

**Keiko:**

Keiko's really funny and sweet, and we bond over a lot of things. I like her a lot, and maybe I have some feelings for her, but they're not really as obvious as my feelings for Izumi. Keiko's pretty and nice, but she's not as much my type as she would be Kouichi's or Tamotsu's… Sometimes Keiko can come off as a follower of Izumi, rather than her own person. She can be really closed off about what goes on at home, because after her party, we all know her brothers fight a bit. I just hope she can stop being so private to her friends.

**Izumi:**

I really, really like Izumi. We have so much in common, and we say a lot of the same things and we connect on so many levels. She definitely thinks that Kouji's hotter than me, because well, everybody thinks he's hot. I guess that I just have to fight for it. She's really charming and she's always a good person to get advice from, so I try to go to her and ask her for girl advice, when she's actually the girl I'm getting advice about. I don't think she realizes it, though. I started to like Izumi pretty early in the Digital World, and she just has such a cute, quirky personality, so I just kept liking her more. I don't know what she thinks about me, but I hope she likes me too.

**Kouji:**

I tell Kouji pretty much everything. Well, except for… one thing. But sometimes we're kind of rivals, but deep down we both really care about each other. I mean, he can really be a huge jerk, and sometimes I'm so tempted to knock his teeth out, but all in all, he's my best friend. We completely hated each other at first, and we even got into a few fist fights in the Digital, ones in which our friends would have to break up. I always thought he was being a chicken about everything, and he always thought I was being hot-headed and an idiot, so we clashed about a lot of things. But the day he almost got killed to save me made a huge understanding between the two of us. I think through the years, I've grown on him, and he's grown on me, and we make good friends.

**Izumi vs. Keiko:**

**Eyes: **

I'd have to give it to Keiko. Her eyes are really cool. Izumi's are really, really pretty too, but Keiko's are weird colored and stuff.

**Body:**

Izumi's body is better. It's not like either is fat, but Izumi has more curves than Keiko, and it's more attractive.

**Hair:**

Probably Keiko's. I like brunettes more than blondes, but only slightly. Izumi's hair is a little bit thicker and longer than Keiko's and I like Keiko's thin and shoulder length hair.

**Smile:**

Izumi has a really sexy smile. Keiko's is cute too, but just not as attractive, I guess.

**Attitude:**

Once again, Izumi has a kind of feisty and sexy attitude. Keiko can be like that too, but she's nicer. I think I like Izumi's more.

**Smarter:**

Izumi's smarter, but it's not like Keiko's dumb. Keiko's good at Math and Literature, but Izumi's a lot better at both, and she'd good at her Science classes and her History classes.

**Funnier:**

I like both of their senses of humor, but Keiko's is a little bit closer to mine, so I guess Keiko.

**Who knows you better?:**

Keiko and Izumi both know me pretty well. Izumi could tell anybody almost everything about me, but Keiko processes it a little bit better and understands things more. I'd say it's a tie.


	17. Interlude: The Day I Grew Up

**Interlude: The Day I Grew Up**

**A/N:** Just a quick interlude. I wanted to clear up what happened the night of Keiko's parents' death. The next chapter will be out very soon, guys. By the way, there's a **contest**, and I already explained it last chapter. So everybody do your best!

**To CelestialWriter: **I'm sorry, but it's not Link. ): Good guess though!

* * *

I don't remember much about that night. It was dark. I know that. But I remember sitting between my mom and dad and chewing on melon flavored gum because it was my favorite at the time. I don't chew that flavor anymore.

I remember the pilot saying something about turbulence and I remember my mom putting my seatbelt on, and telling me it would be okay. It was a little bit shaky, but I had been on airplanes so many times before, so this really wasn't anything new.

I got scared when the plane dropped without warning. It went back to normal for a moment, but then the luggage fell out of the storage areas over us, and clothes and people's items got all over the floor.

That was when the plane nose-dived. I remember holding on to the seat as tightly as I could and I think I might have screamed. We weren't even in the clouds anymore, we were going straight to the grass. Everything faded to black.

When I woke up, my arm and head hurt. I looked around and I smelled fire, and I was really scared. "Mom?" My voice was really weird sounding. It didn't sound like me. The roof wasn't on the plane anymore and there was something on top of me. I could move my arms a little bit, but I was trapped. "Hello?"

Nobody answered me. It was quiet and I could hear wind and something burning. "Mom? Daddy?" I turned to my right, where my dad had been sitting. He was right there. His eyes were wide open and his mouth was agape. I thought he was awake.

"Daddy?" I looked lower on him and I realized that he didn't have a waist or legs or anything anymore. "Dad?"

I turned to my left and I saw my mother laying there. I couldn't see her skin, she was completely covered in blood. She wasn't breathing.

"H-Hello? Hello? _HELLO?!?_"

Nobody was coming, but I heard something in the background. It sounded like sirens. I blacked out again.

When I woke up, I didn't open my eyes. I felt a warm hand around my own hand and I couldn't remember where I was. I opened my eyes to see what had happened and I saw my brother, Naoki, sitting there.

His eyes met mine, and I noticed that they were brighter blue and they were a lot redder, but not wet.

He let out a noise and he put his forehead on my hand. "Oh God," he whispered. I noticed that Keiji and Saburo were behind him. Saburo was curled up in Keiji's lap and he was crying really hard. Keiji was crying too, but he had more tears.

"They're dead," I croaked.

Saburo started to cry even harder and Keiji scooped him up and left the room with him. Naoki squeezed my hand and kissed me on the cheek. "You broke your arm. But you're going to be okay. You had a pretty bad concussion, too." He was looking away. I sat up.

"Naoki? They died…" I said with childish naivety.

Naoki nodded. "They loved us all, and they're in a better place. Okay?"

"I know. I knew they were dead when I woke up. I was awake in the plane a little. I… I already had time to mourn and get it into my system… But you?" He stared at me. "It's okay to cry sometimes, Naoki."

He let out a sob and his head fell onto my shoulder and he cried. That was four years ago. The day that I grew up.


	18. Invisible

**A/N: Alright everybody! Keep on going with that contest, the prize is very nice! :D Enjoy this chapter!**

"_Um, what would you say if, hypothetically of course, I um… I liked one… or, uh, two of the guys? N-Not including Tamotsu?" Keiko asked, twiddling her thumbs._

"_I'd say, tell me," Izumi said, looking up at her best friend._

**

* * *

**

Keiko stayed silent, a contemplating look on her face as she stared at her fingers.

"Come on, Keiko! Out with it I say!" Izumi exclaimed, slapping the brunette's butt.

Keiko yelped and glared at Izumi. "Jeesh!"

"Speak!" Izumi demanded.

"Okay. Well, this is, you know, obviously _hypothetical_, but what would you say if maybe I possibly sort of liked… um… uh, what would you say if, in a completely different universe where kids were adults and adults were kids and cats were dogs and-"

"Keiko! What does this have to do with anything?" Izumi asked.

"I was stalling," the aquamarine eyes girl mumbled. "Okay, well what if I liked…" she muttered two names under her breath.

"What Kei?"

"I said, what if I liked K-Kouji and maybe Kouichi a little bit?"

Izumi's eye twitched before she pounced on the brunette, hopping up and down on her gleefully. "I would say that that was the most adorable thing in the world because you're adorable and they're adorable and it would just be an adorable thing!" she chirped.

"Thanks," Keiko groaned as the blonde's weight made her breathing hard.

"Let's go to sleep. My mission was accomplished," Izumi said, getting under the covers and curling up.

"Mission?" Keiko asked, tilting her head.

"Yeah. My mission was to see who you liked," Izumi replied.

"Brat," Keiko muttered as she laid down next to the blonde.

**

* * *

**

"Bye, Takuya! Thanks for everything!" Tamotsu said as he walked away from Takuya's apartment.

"You're welcome! I'll see you at school on Monday!" Takuya called with a wave.

Takuya grinned as Tamotsu left and he sauntered back into the living room where Shinya was residing, playing a videogame.

"Hey, Shinya. Whatcha doing, buddy?" Takuya sat next to the mini-Takuya and smiled, getting an identical one back.

"Playin'," the younger Kanbara said in a cheerful voice.

"Cool," Takuya said, looking at the screen and watching as his brother got creamed in Super Smash Brothers Melee. "Too bad you suck."

"Not like you could do any better!" Shinya retorted without skipping a beat.

"Is that a challenge?" Takuya asked.

Shinya smiled. "Sure is."

**

* * *

**

A week later, on Friday Takuya walked over to the lunch table excitedly. "We should definitely do this!" Takuya announced, putting a piece of paper on the table. It was a yellow flyer with big black writing, stating something about 'Horror House 3000' and the most terrifying haunted house in Japan.

Izumi grinned widely. "That sounds awesome! When is it?"

"It's tonight at the mall. It's supposed to be awesome!" Takuya exclaimed enthusiastically. "I heard people have fainted in there! And, and, _and… _it's the perfect chance to bond with people you like." He wiggled his brown eyebrows.

Tamotsu smiled and pinched Keiko's cheek. "You hear that, Keiko? You can bond with me!"

Keiko flushed slightly and muttered some terrible things about Tamotsu under her breath.

"We should totally go in groups of two!" Izumi suggested, her green eyes lighting up. "We just need to invite the right amount of people! Like… I know Junpei's been talking to that one girl and I could get my cousin to come with Tomoki, and if all of us go, I could invite Kimiko to be partnered up with one of the guys!"

"Yeah!" Takuya said encouragingly. "And after we could all go out to the late movie showing of Ju-on! They're playing it at the movie theater in the mall along with a ton of other really scary movies!"

"Man! This'll be awesome!" Izumi cried. "So! Out of all of us, who's going to go with who…"

"We could pick randomly, so there's no catfights or anything," Tamotsu said, scratching the back of his head.

"I agree," Kouichi said, grabbing a notebook. "I'll write down each of the girls' names and we can pick from it." He wrote the four names and tore the paper apart, rolling up the scraps and putting them on the table.

"I'll go first," Takuya said. He put his hand on the table and grabbed a scrap of paper. He opened it and smiled. "I got Keiko."

Keiko smiled back at him and Kouji put his hand in and grabbed a paper. "Kimiko," he said, and he blanched.

Tamotsu pulled out his paper and smiled at Izumi. "Well, Izumi, we're certainly going to have a fun night!" He put his hand out and Izumi gave the teen a high five.

"So that just leaves me and Kouichi," Michiko said, smiling at the older twin who she had a crush on.

"Alright. So I could give Izumi a ride. Does anybody else need one?" Keiko asked.

"Me and Kouji might, dad and Satomi are going out to dinner tonight. Is that okay?" Kouichi asked.

Keiko nodded. "It's fine. Keiji's going out tonight I think, so he could give us a ride there."

"I could give Michiko a ride. Since we live next door to each other," Tamotsu offered, smiling at his friend.

Michiko nodded. "That sounds good."

"So it's settled! Tonight will be the greatest night of our lives!" Takuya exclaimed enthusiastically.

**

* * *

**

"Wow… This looks a lot scarier than I thought it would be…" Tomoki said. Izumi's younger cousin Risako was standing next to him, staring at the entrance. "Risako and I could always stand outside and hold coats or something…" he added nervously.

"Don't be a chicken! This'll be great!" Takuya said, dragging the younger boy into the area where tickets were sold.

"Oh, Kouji. Will you protect me from the big bad monsters?" Kimiko asked, pouting her lip as she clutched Kouji's arm.

Kouji stared at the girl. "Sure," he said dryly. Kimiko squealed and hugged the raven haired boy and said boy glared at Izumi for inviting the nutcase.

"We're going in first!" Takuya said, pulling Keiko up to the ticket booth.

Keiko pulled away. "Why don't we watch some other people go in and see how they handle coming… out…" Keiko trailed off as she saw some high school kids run out. One was sobbing hysterically and another had a wet spot on their pants. "Umm…"

"Nonsense! They look like they had a great time!" Takuya said, getting the tickets paid for. "Now, we're all going, right?"

Tomoki cleared his throat and fidgeted. Risako scratched the back of her head. "Umm… We're chickening out. Sorry. We'll wait here."

"Alrighty, then. Kimiko and Kouji?" Takuya looked at the odd couple.

"Yeah," Kouji said, and Kimiko giggled and squealed.

"How about you guys. Tamotsu and Izumi?" Takuya noticed that Izumi was looking scared.

"Yeah, you still want to do this, Izumi?" Tamotsu asked the blonde.

"Yeah," she said with a smile.

"Alright. Junpei and Ami?"

Junpei and the petite wine-haired girl smiled. "We're definitely still in," Junpei said with a grin.

"And last but certainly not least, Michiko and Kouichi?"

"Well, I'll wait with you if you don't want to do this, Michiko," Kouichi said.

Michiko shook her head. "No, I want to go."

"Alright! We'll go first! See you guys!" Takuya dragged a very terrified aquamarine eyed brunette into the room and immediately there was a very girly shriek.

"Calm down, Takuya! It's just a puppet!" Keiko said from the inside and everybody laughed.

"I'm going to make a bet and say that Takuya gets more scared," Izumi said with a grin.

"I'll have to agree. He's probably freaking out right now," Tamotsu agreed.

"I think Keiko would be more scared," Michiko said. "We went on a haunted hayride a few years ago and she started to freak out and cry for her mom."

Everybody laughed and there were hysterical screams from the room and a voice that sounded suspiciously like Keiko's was screaming orders at Takuya. "Run Takuya! _Run!_"

Takuya and Keiko came out of a different door that they had come in. Both brunettes were shaking and Keiko looked rather pale. They slowly walked over to a bench and just sat there quietly.

"Never again, do I want to do that in my life," Keiko said quietly and Takuya nodded in agreement.

"Okay… I'll go next…" Kouji said, walking towards the door.

"You mean 'we'!" Kimiko cried, latching onto his arm and walking in with him.

Within minutes there was a loud and high pitched scream that obviously belonged to Kimiko. "Hold me, Kouji!" she wailed.

"Ouch! Get off of me, Kimiko!" Kouji yelled.

Takuya walked over to where Izumi and Tamotsu were sitting, while Keiko talked to Kouichi and Michiko.

"Hey, Izumi. Are you okay?" Takuya asked the blonde, who was looking even more nervous.

"Me?" Izumi asked. "Oh, I'm fine. Trust me! I'm just thinking about how much less I'm going to scream than you!"

"You're on!" Takuya replied.

Kouji and Kimiko walked out, and the younger twin looked completely and utterly pissed off at the platinum blonde in his arms, sobbing hysterically.

"Alright, we're gonna go. Wish us luck!" Michiko exclaimed with a wave. She held onto Kouichi's arm as they walked into the door.

"They look pretty cute together," Keiko said offhandedly as she sat on the bench between Tamotsu and Kouji. "I wonder if they'll ever get together."

Kouji shrugged as well as he could with Kimiko crushing his arm in her grip. "I don't know. Knowing Kouichi, though, he'd like a person like her."

"Yeah, I know," Keiko said with a sigh. "I'd love to see that."

There was laughter from the exit area and Kouichi and Michiko came out laughing. "I was so scared!" Michiko giggled as they walked back. "We were running away from this chainsaw guy and…" She began to laugh hysterically. "And Kouichi, he tripped over a step and knocked over a guy in a clown costume." She was laughing so hard. "And he was trying to say sorry and the guy was like, 'Just go, man, just go'."

"It wasn't that funny…" Kouichi mumbled, his face turning pink.

"Yes it was! It was hilarious!" Michiko exclaimed, still laughing hysterically.

"I really dislike Halloween right about now…" Kouichi muttered to the amusement of the others.

Junpei and Ami walked in together, laughing about something or another and disappearing behind the door.

"Hey, Takuya?" Tomoki asked quietly. "I… I think I want to go into the haunted house. Risako agreed to go."

Takuya smiled down at Tomoki. "Hey, you don't have to do it just because we all are."

"No," Tomoki said. "I think it'll be fun. And besides, I'll come back out!" He looked determined.

Takuya grinned. "That's the spirit!"

"You know…" Keiko said to Izumi and Michiko. "Junpei looks really cute with that Ami girl…"

"Yeah," Michiko agreed.

"He definitely seems to have forgotten about me," Izumi said quietly. "Strange…"

"Strange?" Keiko asked curiously. "What's so strange? It was pretty obvious that you weren't showing any interest in him, so of course he's going to move on."

Izumi stared at the floor. "Yeah."

"Man! That was great!" Junpei exclaimed as he walked out of the doors with Ami at his side, giggling and blushing lightly. "Who's going next?"

"We'll go!" Tomoki volunteered.

"Um, Tomoki, you're actually going to go through it?" Junpei asked. "It's pretty scary, you know."

"It'll be fine!" Tomoki exclaimed. "I'm ten years old!"

"Risako, are you sure you want to go?" Izumi asked her younger cousin.

Risako nodded. "We'll prove to you that we're just as brave as you all are!" she said, giving a thumbs up to Tomoki.

"Oh, alright. Have fun, then," Izumi said as Tomoki and the young blonde girl walked in. "Jeez, are we ever going to get to go in?" she asked Tamotsu.

The sandy blonde haired teen shrugged. "Well, we'll have to go next. Nobody else can go," he said, smiling.

"Yeah, you're right. I'm just being impatient," Izumi said, shrugging.

"It's okay, they're probably going to be done soon any-" Tamotsu couldn't even finish his sentence due to the screaming Risako running out of the haunted house. Tomoki wasn't with her.

"Risako, where's Tomoki?" Keiko asked.

Risako was out of breath. "I… I don't know. I was with him and then I turned around and he was gone. I was so scared because there was a bloody guy with a pretend knife chasing me so I ran…"

"Oh, well, Izumi and I can go through and try to find him," Tamotsu said, looking at the blonde.

Izumi nodded. "Yeah, why don't you guys get us seats since the movie's starting pretty soon. We'll be up in a minute," she said.

"Okay, we'll need twelve seats, right?" Keiko asked, counting on her fingers quickly. "Yeah… So why don't we do six people in each row?"

Izumi nodded. "Yeah, we'll see you all there."

The nine of them walked through the mall and to the movie center, where people were just walking into the Ju-on showings. "Man, we should have gone to see Audition," Takuya sighed.

"Yeah, let's just scare the hell out of all of us," Junpei said, shaking his head.

They already had their tickets, so they all walked into the theater, getting a row of six seats, then another row right behind it. As soon as they were all settled, the movie began to play.

"Oh no, they're going to miss the beginning," Keiko whispered to Kouichi, who was on her right.

"I know, but they'll probably be here soon," Kouichi replied.

Kimiko was on Keiko's left and Kouji's right, and she was clutching his arm tightly as the movie played. "Kimiko, it's not even scary yet, why are you holding on to me?" Kouji asked.

Kimiko sighed and nuzzled his shoulder. "Because I'm scared," she said.

Kouji wanted to push her away, but he would probably hurt the blonde, so he just sighed and shifted in his seat. Kimiko was practically stopping the blood flow in his arm.

Izumi and Tamotsu walked into the theater, completely Tomoki-less. They headed up towards the nine watching the movie, and Izumi whispered something in Kouji's ear. He stared for a moment before turning and telling the rest that Tomoki wasn't there.

"What?" Kouichi gasped.

"They got the person running it to get all of the people out so they can turn on the lights and search for him," Tamotsu whispered. "We should go back and see how it's going."

The five sitting in the row all stood up and walked out of the aisle and down the stairs, the other six following them. They headed back to where the haunted house was and noticed that all of the people dressed as monsters and killers were standing out there and the doors were open. The manager was standing there, waiting. He spotted the group of teenagers and walked over to them. "We've had people searching for them for a little while. There's nobody in there. We called the police. This seems like it's worse than we thought."

Izumi's eyes widened. "We should call Tomoki's mom," she said.

Takuya nodded. "Yeah, she should hear it from us first, rather than the police," he said in agreement. "I think Keiko should do it."

"What? Why me?" Keiko asked.

"Because you're the best at telling people things without making things worse," Izumi said.

Keiko grumbled and took out her phone, going through her contacts and calling Tomoki's mother. "Hi, Mrs. Himi?… This is Keiko… Oh, thank you. I'm calling about Tomoki… Well, we don't know… He was going through the haunted house and he didn't come back out. People have been searching for him but they can't find him. The police are on their way now… No, we don't…" Suddenly screaming was coming from the other line and Keiko shut her eyes. Tomoki's mother was yelling at her and calling her some very rude things. "I'm sorry Mrs. Himi. I know that this is-" More screaming. "I know this is making you worried, we all are, but you should probably come down because…" Keiko stared at her phone. "She hung up on me," she said quietly.

**

* * *

**

For a long time, one by one, the teens were getting interviewed by police officers. It only stopped when a very frantic Mrs. Himi walked in with her husband. Takuya stood up to say something, but she stormed over and slapped him hard across the face.

"Keep your hands off of him!" Izumi yelled angrily, grabbing onto the brunette who staggered backwards.

"Where is my son?" she demanded. "Why weren't you all watching him?"

"We were, he just went in and didn't come back out! Don't you dare hit Takuya! He didn't do anything wrong!" Izumi screamed.

"I knew I shouldn't have trusted him with you all! I just knew you wouldn't be able to take care of him! Especially you young man!" She pointed an accusing finger at Takuya. "He admires you so much and he could be dead by now!"

"Shut up!" Izumi yelled.

"You're making a fool out of yourself," Kouji added, walking over to the other side of Takuya. "Hitting and yelling isn't going to help find Tomoki. You should go talk to the police if you want to know what's going on. It's not Takuya's fault."

Mrs. Himi stared for a moment before running over to the police. Her husband looked at them and then he walked to his wife's side.

Izumi led Takuya to a bench, kneeling down in front of him. "Here, let me see your face," she said, taking it in her hands. There was a nasty red mark blossoming on his face and Izumi made a worried sound. "That was wrong of her to hit you. It's not your fault."

Takuya just stared at his lap. "I feel like it is…"

"It's not. Okay?" Izumi asked.

Takuya nodded. "Okay."

A police officer walked up to them. "Well, we haven't found anything, so you lot can go home. We'll make sure to spread the news about him. It's late, you should all be getting home," he said sympathetically.

"Alright. Thank you," Izumi said.

**

* * *

**

Keiko looked like she was on the verge of tears as she sat on the couch watching the news. There was a picture of Tomoki, and they were announcing that he had gone missing three nights ago.

"Tomoki's still not found, huh?" Naoki asked, sitting next to her.

"No. I don't even know where he could be. I have this horrible feeling that something really bad has happened," she said softly, looking up at her blue-eyed brother.

"It'll be okay. Tomoki's a strong little guy," Naoki said comfortingly.

"But your will's only so strong," Keiko said softly.

"Come on now," Naoki said, putting an arm around his younger sister. "Everything is going to be alright. They'll find him. Being sad is only making _your _will weaker."

Keiko nodded sitting up and moving closer to the brunette. "Thanks, Naoki."

"Hey, how about we drive around again and look around, you up to it?" he asked.

Keiko smiled. Her family had been really good about everything with Tomoki. Saburo and Keiji had spread word through the high school while Naoki had driven around with Keiko at night, looking around the streets. "Sure."

**

* * *

**

Izumi laid under Kouji's covers. "It's been five days, Kouji. Do you think we're ever going to see him again?" she asked.

"Can't say," Kouji replied, typing something into his computer. "Thousands of kids are abducted every year, and still aren't found. Just because we know Tomoki doesn't mean he'll be different than all of the others."

Izumi nodded and went back under the blanket. "I just worry about him. He doesn't deserve it."

Kouji looked over at the lump in his blankets, sighing and walking over to it and sitting on the edge of the bed. "I know," he said softly.

"Just… How could somebody take a little kid? Why would they do that?" she whimpered from under the covers.

"There's sick people out there," he said as he placed a hesitant hand on the lump and rubbed Izumi's back. "We'll do all we can to get him back."

Izumi sniffled and nodded. Kouji patted the lump before going to sit on the computer chair once again. He was happy that Izumi was under the covers, or else she might have seen the blush on his face.

**

* * *

**

When Takuya walked into school on the fifth day, he was surprised to see that Tamotsu was talking frantically to Keiko. Keiko looked like she was going to throw up and Takuya got worried and ran over. "What's up?"

"You didn't hear?" Tamotsu asked. Takuya shook his head. "Last night on the news, they said that a high schooler disappeared in the school showers."

Takuya stared. "Who was it?"

"Junpei," Tamotsu said.

**

* * *

**

"How come it's been Junpei and Tomoki?" Takuya asked as the remaining five sat on Keiko's bed. "How come it's only been us? They've been disappearing in the weirdest places! This means something! What if it's Beezlemon or… or-"

"Lucemon," Kouji said.

Takuya nodded. "It has to be them! It can't just be a coincidence! Why didn't whoever took Tomoki take Risako too, and why didn't anybody see it happen? And why didn't anybody else but Junpei get taken from the showers?"

Izumi started to cry. "No! Why is this happening!" She shook her head frantically. "I don't want to do this anymore! I'm scared!"

Kouichi looked at Izumi and took a hold of her hand. Keiko just sat there, plucking at her bed sheets. "We…" She stared down at the bed again and didn't finish her sentence.

Izumi was crying harder into her hand and Kouichi buried his face in his knees, breathing rapidly. He was just as terrified as Izumi.

"God… I just… I can't do this," Takuya said, shutting his eyes. "We're getting separated! They're separating us one by one so that they can take us down. Oh God…"

Kouji was just as silent as Keiko, staring at the wall in front of him. He looked over at Keiko, then Takuya. "We need to watch our backs, and we need to find them. We won't get taken down that easily."

Takuya let out a shaky sigh and nodded. "You're right, Kouji… Guys, we have to be alert at all times. If anything weird starts happening, then run away."

Kouichi nodded and Izumi squeaked out a 'yes'. Kouji looked back down to the bed sheets and Keiko stared at her reflection in the vanity across the room. Takuya just noticed that she had small bags under her eyes.

"We will find them. And none of us are going to disappear. Understand?" Takuya asked.

If only he believed himself.

* * *

Next chapter, we'll figure out what happened. Or will we?!? Bum bum bummm. Please review, it'd make me smile and also make my fingers go faster! :D


	19. Unwritten

**Review replies for chapter 18:**

**Momentai35: **Haha, yeah, it was pretty intense, huh? Thank you so much for review! I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D

**Empyrea: **Muahaha, gotcha! :D Yep, we might see the Demon Lords pretty soon here. Enjoy the chapter and thanks a lot for the review!

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **Oh yeah, gotcha you silly squid! xD Thank you so much for your review babe! I hope you like this chapter!

**Celestial Writer: **All of your questions will be answered this chapter! I hope you like this chapter, thanks so much for the review!

**PurpleViolin: **Haha, poor Tomoki and Junpei. D: Don't worry, you'll get to glomp them soon! Yep! She's a twins fan! xD I hope that doesn't make drama. But knowing me, it will. Hehehe. I just wanted to get Kouji with some crazy chick, because, face it. He needs it. :D I was almost going to put Tamotsu and Keiko together, but I never really did anything with Keiko and Takuya, so I was all 'ehh.' Haha, I'm glad you're starting to get into the story and like different pairings! It makes me smile! :D Thank you so, so, soooo much for the review!

**A/N: **Sooo… My Tomoki and Junpei muses are reeeaaaally hating me right now. *Laughs nervously* But ummm… Well, as far as the contest goes, you're all failing pretty miserably. xD But, I'll do you all a favor. For the next three chapters, you will get another hint. And you don't get only one guess, you can guess on all three! :D I mean, the prize is wicked. You totally get to order me around and tell me what you want in a chapter. So um, yeah, here's the hint! :D:

**The fandom is Final Fantasy VII**

Come on guys, that's a _good _freaking hint! Do your research! You can do it! Go to . com and it's all you babes! I mean, do you really want Morgan and _**Sydney**_to get the chapter. I mean, Sydney's insane. So, enough talking, enjoy the chapter! Oh, and for those of you who are favoriting and not reviewing, I'll hunt you down! Well, I won't, but I mean, it'd be really nice if you dropped a few words, you know? Well, see you next time!

**

* * *

**

"What do we do?" Keiko asked, staring out the window; it had started to rain. "I mean, how do we make sure that we're safe?"

"I think our first step should be staying with somebody at all times. Don't shower after your sports, and don't sleep alone. The five of us will try to stay together as much as possible too," Kouji said.

"How am I going to be able to sleep with somebody at night? I don't have any siblings," Izumi said.

"Sleep with your parents, and don't let them kick you out, no matter what it takes," Kouichi said to the blonde. "I'll try to sleep at Kouji's as much as I can, and he can try to sleep at my house, too."

"I can sleep with Shinya. He wouldn't mind," Takuya said.

"I'll sleep with Saburo," Keiko added.

Kouji nodded. "Good. None of us can be alone. If you're at home by yourself, go to somebody else's house."

Takuya nodded. "Yeah, whoever's closest to you."

Izumi and Kouichi nodded as well and Keiko just stared out the window at the rain. "What if something happens to them?" she asked.

"They'll be okay," Kouji reassured her. "We'll find them, and get them back."

Keiko didn't believe him.

**

* * *

**

"Well, well, what a beautiful night it is, indeed!" Izumi crowed as she walked into her parents' bedroom with her pillow.

The pair stared at her as she walked in nonchalantly and laid between them. "Izumi, what are you doing?" her mother asked.

"Well, I'm obviously trying to get close to my parents," Izumi said, snuggling into the sheets. "I'm your only daughter for God's sake! Before you know it, I'll be gone for college!"

Her parents stared for a moment before shutting off their bedside lights and going to bed. It was reasons like this that they weren't having another child.

**

* * *

**

"Saburo?"

The brunette, who was sitting up in his bed, doing homework, looked over at his younger sister in the doorway. "Keiko?"

"Can I sleep in here?" she asked.

He nodded, shifting over a little bit so she could lay down underneath the covers. "I've still got some homework to get done, so I'm sorry about the light."

Keiko shrugged. "It's alright. Don't worry about it…" She closed her eyes. "Thank you, Saburo."

He smiled and patted her side. "You're welcome. Goodnight."

**

* * *

**

"We'll get them back, right?" Kouichi whispered to his brother, staring at his dark blue eyes in the darkness of the room.

Kouji nodded, gripping his brother's hand in his own. "We'll do everything we can."

Kouichi smiled. "Okay… I just… I don't want you to disappear, too."

"I don't want you to, either," Kouji replied.

Kouichi shut his eyes, squeezing Kouji's hand. "Goodnight, Kouji."

Kouji let his eyes fall closed. "Night, Kouichi."

**

* * *

**

"Shinya, stop kicking," Takuya grumbled.

"Shaddup. It's my bed. I can kick in my sleep if I damn well please," Shinya replied.

"Wow, you're pretty mouthy when you're half asleep," Takuya snickered.

"Shut up, or I'll make you disappear like your friends did," Shinya hissed.

Takuya was silent; Shinya had really hurt him with that comment. Shinya simply huffed and turned over, ignoring his brother, who was shaking slightly. The guilt managed to overtake him, and Shinya turned back around, allowing his older brother to bury his face in his chest. "I'm sorry," the younger Kanbara whispered.

**

* * *

**

"Hey."

Keiko raised her head from her desk and saw Kouji standing there. "Hey," she mumbled back as he sat in the seat next to her in their math class. She dropped her head back into her arms.

"Did you not sleep very well?" Kouji asked.

Keiko shook her head. "I was up until three, and then I woke up at six to get ready. I'm beat…" She looked at the raven haired boy again. "How well did you sleep?"

He shrugged. "I got enough. Seven hours."

Keiko nodded. "I fell asleep last bell and I got myself a lunch detention…"

"Lunch detention? What if nobody's in there with you and you're alone?" Kouji asked.

The brunette sat up a little. "I… I didn't think about it. Kouji, I-" Kouji grabbed his homework from his bag and ripped it in half. "Kouji, what are you doing?"

"This way we both get lunch detentions. I can't leave you alone. It's too dangerous," he said.

Keiko felt a flutter in her stomach and she fought the blush trying to overcome her cheeks. "Thanks, Kouji."

He nodded and went back to opening his notebook and beginning to copy down the advanced equations on the board.

Keiko looked down at her hands, then back up to the dark blue eyed boy. "Hey, Kouji?"

He looked over at her. "Yeah?"

She sighed and opened her notebook. "Never mind."

**

* * *

**

Lunch was silent without Keiko and Kouji there. It was silent period, considering Izumi, Takuya and Kouichi were pretty quiet. Takuya looked pained and Kouichi just looked plain sad, but Izumi… Izumi looked like she was going to explode.

"Izumi? Are you okay?" Tamotsu asked softly.

Izumi broke. "No…" she said in a shuddering whisper. She gripped her head in her shaking hands. "No… I just… I can't…"

"Izumi?" Michiko whimpered. She looked terrified.

"I can't _do _this anymore!" she screamed and everybody in the lunchroom stared at her as she got up from the table and sprinted down the hall.

"Izumi! Wait!" Takuya yelled getting up from his chair and chasing after the blonde with Kouichi on his tail. "Izumi!"

They saw the green eyed girl run around a corner and Kouichi and Takuya followed, but stopped in shock once they got there.

The hallway was empty.

**

* * *

**

"We can't separate now. No matter what. Izumi was only steps ahead of us and she disappeared just like that. Once one of us is out of sight, we aren't coming back," Takuya said.

The last four were sitting in Kouji's bed. It was about five in the evening. The police were called to the school as soon as Izumi disappeared and school was cancelled in fear of a kidnapper roaming in the school.

"We need to stay calm, and we need to stay with somebody… anybody anytime we can. This is worse than we expected. This thing, whatever it is, takes us down whenever it gets the chance," Kouji said.

"We shouldn't go back to school tomorrow," Keiko added from the floor. "We can't be with somebody all the time there. If we're at our lockers or if we turn a corner too slowly, we're gone." She choked out a laugh. "It scares me that I even have to say that."

Kouichi nodded and patted the brunette on the head reassuringly. "I know. We all feel that way right about now. I think all of us are getting a feeling of helplessness at this point."

"Kouichi and I will stay home tomorrow," Kouji said, trying to change the subject. "Takuya, your mom will be there, and Keiko…?"

"I'll have Naoki bring me with him to work. I'll tell him I'm scared or something. He'll let me sleep on the couch in his office or something," she said.

"What if he has to leave the room?" Kouji asked.

Keiko shrugged. "I'll go sit with Ayaka until he comes back or something."

"Guys, seriously, we need to be as careful as we can. Don't even close a door behind you. Be ready for anything, and don't be alone," Takuya said.

There was a knock on the door. "Kouji? I'm coming in." Kouji's father opened the door and looked at Keiko. "Your brother's here to pick you up," he said.

Keiko nodded. "Bye guys," she said. "Thanks for having me, Mr. Minamoto," Keiko added with a smile to Kouji and Kouichi's father.

The three boys watched out the window as she walked to her brother's car, sighing in relief when she made it safely.

"The fact that we have to make sure Keiko can get to her car alright really scares the hell out of me," Takuya said softly. He sighed, and then he froze slightly. "Guys…" He turned green slightly. "I didn't even _think_ about it… I didn't even… Guys, they're _gone… _Tomoki and Junpei are gone. And _Izumi _is gone. When I wake up in the morning, one of you guys could be gone, too."

"I know," Kouji said, staring out the window with a blank expression. "I know."

**

* * *

**

Kouji and Kouichi persuaded their father to let them stay home from school, and they spent the day upstairs sleeping and talking about trying to get Junpei, Tomoki and Izumi back.

When Kouji awoke from a short nap, he was alarmed to find that Kouichi wasn't in his bed. "Kouichi?!?" the younger ravenette cried, sitting up in bed.

He heard a cry from down the hall, and he ran out of his room and looked down the hall. There, laying in the hallway was an unconscious Kouichi, and standing above him, was a strange looking Digimon wearing a giant robe. Kouji was unable to notice any other features on it, due to the dryness in his throat and the fear in his heart.

The Digimon simply lifted the boy into his arms and turned, looking at Kouji. "Put him down!" Kouji screamed in a voice that sounded unlike his own.

The Digimon scoffed and in a swish of the robe, disappeared.

**

* * *

**

"He's gone!"

Takuya was quite shocked at the sight of Kouji when he opened his door only minutes after the incident. "Who's gone?" Takuya asked, puzzled.

"Kouichi is gone! Somebody - Some_thing _took him away! I…" He froze and stared at the ground. "He's gone. My brother… My brother's gone." Kouji shook his head. "I can't _be _here anymore, Takuya!" Kouji dragged his hands through his hair. "I'm going insane! I can't do this!"

Takuya grabbed the slightly older boy's wrists and stared at him in the eyes. "Yes you can! Everything's going to be fine!"

Kouji shook his head frantically. "It's not! It's not going to be fine! We're all going to disappear!"

Takuya, in a split second decision, slapped Kouji across the face. Kouji immediately stopped his yelling and stared at the brunette. "We're going to be fine. Me and you and Keiko are all going to be okay."

"But… Kouichi…" Kouji choked as a red mark blossomed on his cheek.

Takuya shook his head and instead of gripping his friend's wrists, he held his hands. "He'll be okay. I know he will. You can feel him right?" Kouji nodded slowly. "Well, you can tell when he's in trouble…" Kouji nodded again. "And if he were in a lot of danger, you would feel it."

Kouji stared at Takuya, then he lowered his gaze to the floor. "Okay."

Takuya sighed and smiled, squeezing Kouji's shoulder comfortingly. "Now, we're going to call Keiko, and we're all going to go somewhere safe."

**

* * *

**

Behind the Takishita mansion, there was a long hill, one that led to a forest. Keiko decided the safest place to be, was someplace through there. Kouji and Takuya were confused, but they didn't object.

"We're almost there," Keiko said quietly as they walked through trees. She had only hours ago heard the news about Kouichi, and agreed with her two male companions that they needed to leave and find someplace where they could all be together, someplace where nobody would be able to find them.

Keiko moved some brush with her hands and there was a beautiful koi pond; above it, running through the middle was a wooden bridge that led to a small cottage.

"This is the guest house," Keiko said. "We never use it though. This would be about the last place anybody would look. There's cable and hot water and heat and everything, so we'll be alright."

"Indoor plumbing?" Kouji inquired.

Keiko nodded. "Yeah." She walked over and opened the door. It was pleasantly small, everything made out of wood. It was basically all one room, the kitchen, living area and a pullout couch to make up a bedroom. "The bathroom's right through here."

Takuya sat on the couch, bouncing up and down a little bit. "Nobody's ever used this?" he asked.

Keiko shook her head. "Whenever we have guests, they sleep in the main house," she said. "We haven't used this house since…" She paused. "Since a long time ago."

"So what do you want to do, now?" Takuya asked.

Keiko shrugged. What _could_ they do?

**

* * *

**

"_The disappearance of seven children has left Shibuya reeling." _The news lady on the TV announced. _"Himi Tomoki, the first child to disappear, went into Shibuya's haunted house, and didn't come back out. The second to vanish, was Shibayama Junpei. The high school student was in the showers when he disappeared. Soon after, Orimoto Izumi didn't come home from school, and Kimura Kouichi wasn't found in his father's home only hours ago." _Pictures were shown of all three of them, and another was shown of Kouji next. _"His twin brother, Minamoto Kouji, has also vanished. He was with Kouichi, but the difference between their disappearances is the fact that Kouichi's shoes and coat were left at the house, while Kouji's were gone. Just an hour ago, two other children were reported missing. Kanbara Takuya, a soccer star at the middle school was gone when his mother checked on him. Takishita Keiko, heiress of the Takishita movie productions studio fortune, was staying in her brother's office, when she simply wasn't there when he came back into the room. Kidnappings? We don't know. There is no evidence that they ever were. The police have set a seven o'clock curfew in hopes of stopping other children from being taken-"_

"_Minamoto Kouji, Kanbara Takuya and Takishita Keiko have now-"_

"_It's a small world after all, it's a small world after all…"_

Keiko tossed the remote to Takuya. "You can watch whatever you guys want," she said as she settled underneath the covers on the couch's pullout bed. "I'm tired." She was simply a blob underneath the blue blankets. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Keiko," Takuya said quietly.

Kouji took the remote and began flipping idly through the channels. It landed on another news station, this one covering their disappearances. "They really think we're gone, don't they?" he asked softly.

Takuya nodded. "It's killing me to think that my brother and my parents are worried about me, even when I'm perfectly safe."

"I know," Kouji replied. "I just hope we can see them again."

"We will, Kouji," Takuya said. "I know it." Kouji nodded as Takuya settled in the middle of his two friends. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," Kouji said.

**

* * *

**

"Mmm…" Takuya rolled over on the bed and was surprised when Keiko's body wasn't there to stop his descent to the floor. "Mmm, Keiko?" He stood up and looked at the door, which was wide open. "No… Kouji!" He began to shake the raven haired boy awake. "Kouji! Wake up!"

"What?" Kouji mumbled.

Takuya grabbed his arm and pulled him out the door, sighing in relief when he spotted Keiko sitting on the little wooden bridge and looking into the koi pond. She looked over. "Hi."

"Damn it, Keiko, we thought you-"

A hand came out of the water, and with a shriek, Keiko was dragged off the bridge and into the water. "Keiko!" Takuya yelled. "Keiko no!" He ran over to the water. Nothing was there.

"She's…" Kouji muttered. "Gone…"

Takuya nodded shakily. "We're next, Kouji. They're not afraid to get us while other people are around. W-We're…" He made a choking sound and he dragged Kouji over to him. "L-Let's just hang onto each other until we… we go… okay?"

Kouji nodded and held onto his best friend for what may be the last time. "Okay."

**

* * *

**

"Kouji…" Takuya muttered. He awoke and it was still dark out. Kouji was no longer in his arms. Takuya looked down at the ground. "Kouji…"

"Well, Fire, I think you know that you're coming with me, now," a deep voice said.

"Who's there?" Takuya asked.

"Barbamon," a voice said and a Digimon appeared in front of him. Sworn enemy of Love, or as you know her, Keira, or Keiko or something along those lines… But, anyway…" He grabbed Takuya's wrist. "Let's get a move on."

And in a flash, all seven of the Legendary Warriors were gone.

**

* * *

**

When Takuya awoke, he was in a… he wasn't sure, it was a chamber of some sort. No… It was more like… He was wrapped up in this weird crystal stuff. It held his lower body against a wall, and he realized then that he was high in the air. His arms were about a foot from his sides and the crystal thinned out at his chest.

"Ah, he's finally awake…"

Takuya looked down and saw the same Digimon that took him before. "Where are the others?" he demanded immediately.

"Look around you, you twit," he said lazily.

Takuya looked to his right and saw Kouji next to him, in the same sort of position, and he was looking down at Barbamon angrily. Takuya could see that Keiko was on Kouji's other side, followed by Kouichi, and they were all in order of their disappearances.

"What do you want?" Kouji yelled.

Barbamon smiled and stood in front of Keiko. "Well, there's something _we _want. Not just me."

More appeared and took places in front of their rightful enemies. They all felt like they were going to be sick when they spotted Lucemon, who stood in front of Takuya.

"I'd say we should introduce ourselves," Lucemon said, grinning. "Lucemon, enemy of Fire."

"Beelzemon," the familiar Digimon in the black coat said, winking at Kouji. "Enemy of Light."

The caped Digimon in front of Keiko looked up at the brunette. "Barbamon. Enemy of Love."

"Belphemon," a Digimon with a deep tenor voice, who stood in front of Kouichi said. It was by far the biggest and possibly the scariest looking. "Enemy of Dark."

"Lilithmon," the only female said. She was quite pretty, actually, with dark hair and a pretty dress. "_Sworn_ enemy of Wind."

"Daemon," the creature in front of Junpei said. It was a weird bat kind of thing, but it's claws looked viscous. "Enemy of Thunder."

"Leviamon," the final one said, the one standing in front of Tomoki said. It was a dragon, maybe three times the size of an alligator. "Enemy of Ice."

"And we are, The Seven Demon Lords," Lucemon added. Beelzemon sighed. "Now, now, Beelzemon." He smiled serenely at the seven on the wall. "He's just upset because he wants to kill you now."

"You're not… Then what _do _you want?" Keiko asked.

"Well, it's not fair game now, since you're in our lair," Lilithmon said. "We're not going to kill you all without a fight, it would be no fun. But, this, oh this might be even more fun than killing you."

"We're going to show you just how powerful we are," Daemon said. "We're going to show you just how much pain we can cause you, and just how much we can break you."

"We know your worst fears, your biggest secrets. We know how to tear each and every one of you apart from each other," Beelzemon added.

"You won't be able to do that!" Takuya snapped. "We have a stronger friendship than you could imagine!"

Barbamon laughed. "Oh, but it's not as strong as you think," he said. "Not nearly as strong as you think."

On the opposite wall, a large square shape lit up. It showed a Junpei and Kouji walking down the street.

"_He disgusts me," _the voice sounded like Kouji. Were they his thoughts? _"He's just so fat. Why doesn't he shape up?"_

Junpei gasped and looked over at Kouji. "You… you really thought that?" he asked. "It's not fake, is it?"

Kouji looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry, Junpei," he said softly.

"Why would you say that? Why would you even say something like that? I thought we were friends!" Junpei yelled.

"I'm sure you all thought you were friends," Lucemon said sympathetically. "But you were wrong. There's more."

Izumi and Keiko were sitting at a table in art class, and there were two boys talking to them. Izumi had a sly look on her face. _"It's obvious they like me more. Keiko's such a Plain Jane." _She smiled and said something to one of the boys. _"Everybody knows that I'm prettier, anyway."_

Keiko whipped her head around to look at Izumi. "You… you really think that, Izumi? That I'm a Plain Jane?"

"That…" Izumi stuttered. "That was… it was different then, because…!"

The screen changed before Izumi even had the chance to redeem herself. It showed Kouichi, Takuya and Kouji sitting there, watching a movie. Takuya glared at Kouichi. _"He's such a friend stealer. Just because he and Kouji are brothers doesn't mean they have to leave me out of everything."_

Kouichi's eyes widened at Takuya. "Oh, Takuya, I'm so sorry, I didn't know that… you felt that way…"

Takuya looked upset. "Because you guys never care how I feel when you two are together! You're always ignoring me and acting like I don't exist!"

"That's not true!" Kouji yelled.

"Yeah it is," Keiko interjected quietly. "I noticed it too. You guys act like he's lesser than you whenever he's around. Kouji, he's your _best friend!_"

"I know he is!" Kouji snarled at the brunette. "I just…"

The screen changed and it showed Tomoki and Izumi walking together. _"Izumi can be such a brat at times. I swear that she acts younger than me."_

"Tomoki!" Izumi yelled. "Are you kidding me?"

"I'm sorry Izumi!" Tomoki cried.

"Don't yell at him!" Junpei shouted at the blonde.

They saw many more videos, videos that made them split apart.

"_Jeez, Kouji's such a jerk. No wonder nobody likes him."_

"_Why does Izumi act so stuck up all the time?"_

"_Tomoki needs to stop getting in the way all the time!"_

"_Sometimes I can't even stand Kouichi!"_

"_Dude, Keiko just always manages to piss me off!"_

"_God! Takuya just needs to stop hanging out with us! He's holding us back if anything!"_

"_Junpei is so whiney! He can't ever do anything for himself!"_

They all stared as they listened to themselves get bashed. They heard at least twenty things about themselves. Izumi was crying softly and Keiko was just staring at the ground. Tomoki was sobbing and Junpei was yelling at them all for being horrible friends. Kouji wasn't above yelling back at him and Kouichi was just sitting there dejectedly. Takuya had joined Kouji's and Junpei's arguing, and the Seven Demon Lords just stared up at the and smiled. They won.

**

* * *

**

"Uhn… K-Keiji?" Keiko opened her eyes and she realized that she was in her room, laying in her bed. Keiji was sitting above her, smiling at her.

"Hey, Keiko. You alright? You hit your head pretty badly, huh?" he patted her forehead.

"My… head?"

"You don't remember? You fell down the stairs and knocked your head into the banister. You've been out for a few minutes now…"

"I… I didn't disappear?" she asked.

He laughed. "Disappear? Oh no, you're just fine."

"Oh," she said. Did it really happen? Did they just not remember?" "Okay. Um, I'm sorry, I'm just tired."

He smiled and ruffled her hair. "It's okay." He stood up. "Well, Naoki softened up and ordered sushi tonight. You up for eating?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I'm just gonna call Izumi real quick, okay?"

He smiled at her. "Okay. I'll see you downstairs in a little bit. Hey, um, Ayaka's here. So… yeah, just wanted to let you know…" He walked out of the room.

Keiko reached over and grabbed her phone, dialing in Izumi's number.

"_Hello?"_

"Izumi! Did… did what I think happened actually happen?"

"_Yeah. I talked to Kouji. We talked about what happened."_

"Oh. Look, Izumi, I'm so sorry about-"

"_I don't really want to talk to you right now. Kouji's just as mad as I am, so don't bother groveling to him __**or **__his brother. You know, I really thought you were my friend."_

Keiko felt angry, sad and embarrassed. "Well you know what? Fine! I'm too much of a Plain Jane to be your friend anyway!"

"_Exactly! Goodbye, Keiko."_

She hung up the phone. Keiko threw her phone into her couch and buried her face in her hands, trying to calm down. With a deep breath, she got out of bed and headed downstairs to eat dinner.

**

* * *

**

"But I'm glad to know that you're not mad at me," Takuya said the aquamarine eyed girl in front of him.

Keiko shrugged. "Well, you're the only one who's actually trying to grow up… And besides, you weren't the one who called me an egotistical slut…"

"Yeah, that was pretty mean of Junpei, huh?" Takuya asked sympathetically.

"Yeah, but you didn't really say anything about me… so in a childish way, it's kind of easy for me to forgive you, you know?" Keiko asked.

Takuya nodded. "And you really didn't have anything bad about me, so it's all good. You even stood up for me… Man, I just can't believe they said all those things… They were right when they said our friendship wasn't as… as strong as we thought it was. Maybe it's better we're split like this. Me and you; Junpei and Tomoki; Izumi, Kouji and Kouichi; we all get along better when we're apart."

Keiko nodded and watched as Izumi, Kouji and Kouichi walked by, Kouji and Izumi glaring harshly at the two brunettes sitting on the bench. "Yeah. I think it's better this way."

**

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**

You all probably hate me now… Heheheee. *Gets glares* Well, I'll see you later! *Gets chased by crazy readers* NOOO!!!


	20. Crash

**Review replies for chapter 19 (They're gonna be mad short, because I feel really sick… Sorry.):**

**PurpleViolin: **Hehe, I'm such an evil little jerk. :D I hope you like this chapter, and thanks so much for the review!

**Momentai35: **Hehe, thanks for not hating me! Thank you for the review, and enjoy this chapter!

**Empyrea: **Wow! You really liked this! Thanks so much! Your review was really nice! Enjoy this chapter!

**My-Little-Star: **Hehe, it's hard to expect what crap I'm going to throw at them next, right? Haha, thanks for your review, and I hope you like this chapter!

**Celestial Writer: **Yeah, it was pretty sad, huh? I'm glad you liked the chapter, and I hope you enjoy this one! Thanks for taking the time to review!

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **I just like to torture you, kiddo. :D I'm glad you liked it, thank you for reviewing and I hope you like this one.

**A/N: **WE HAVE A WINNER!!! PurpleViolin has won the contest to figure out who good 'ol Tanaka Tamotsu has similarities with! That person was Zack Fair! Nice tries everyone! (Well, those who actually guessed…) PurpleViolin gets to instruct me on what to write on a chapter! Woohoo!!! Anyway, Happy birthday to Sydney! Well, belated birthday, considering it's three in the morning where I was… SO WISH HER A HAPPY BIRTHDAY BITCHES!!! :D Have a nice read.

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"Ow, ow, owww…" Keiko whimpered. Tamotsu currently had her arm over his shoulders and was supporting her up the stairs and to the infirmary in the huge high school.

They were at the championship game at Osaka and Keiko got hurt pretty badly when she was slide tackled. Her ankle made a bad sounding crunch and before she knew it pain was lacing her system and she was clutching her ankle on the ground.

The boys' game had yet to start, and there was only a quarter left of the girls'. As they turned the corner, so did Izumi, who was with some other girl Keiko didn't recognize.

"Hey Izumi!" Tamotsu exclaimed cheerfully. "Where did you guys come from?"

"Bathroom," Izumi answered shortly. "I'm showing my support for our soccer team." She looked at Keiko. "Messed up again, huh? Heh, what a shock." As Izumi walked by, she nudged the side of her foot against Keiko's swollen ankle and Keiko cried out in pain.

"Hey!" Tamotsu shouted, but Izumi paid him no heed. She and the other girl just kept walking. "Dude…" Tamotsu growled. "If she were a guy I would have knocked her block off…"

"Who cares if she's a girl? You should've just hit her anyway," Keiko said as she cringed.

Tamotsu looked down at the brunette's ankle and hissed. "Man, that thing's getting pretty swollen… Here." He lifted the teenager into his arms and carried her bridal style through the halls. "No reason for you to put pressure on it, right?"

Keiko nodded and sighed in relief. "Thanks, Tamotsu…" she said softly. She cringed. "Am I too heavy?"

He shook his head and smiled at the girl. "Nope, light as a feather. And you're a perfect fit!" He added with a laugh.

Keiko stammered incoherently for a moment and Tamotsu simply laughed at the blushing girl. "Oh, Keiko. You never cease to amaze me!"

**

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**

Three hours later, the Shibuya middle school soccer team came back from Osaka as champions. Keiko didn't get to play in the last quarter, but she had scored a goal earlier in the first half. Takuya did really well too, he scored two goals.

Kouji, Kouichi and Izumi came too, but they weren't cheering for the two brunettes who they were all mad at. Junpei and Tomoki didn't even bother going in fear that they would bump into Kouji, Kouichi and Izumi.

The next day in math class, Kouji and Keiko ignored each other, and when they were partnered up for class work, they simply didn't speak.

Izumi asked her literature teacher if she and Kouichi could kick Takuya out of their group because they felt like he 'didn't do any work'. Takuya ended up having to work alone.

In gym though, things between Keiko and Izumi were the worse. They were playing a game of volleyball. Both of the girls were on their school's team and both were extremely gifted at the sport. The girls were on opposite teams, and things were just bound to get heated.

A volley got going between them and Keiko and Izumi were both in the front lines, hitting the ball back and forth. Everything was relatively alright, until Keiko jumped up and spiked the ball. Right into Izumi's face.

The blonde fell to the ground, clutching her nose and glaring at Keiko. Oh, no. It was on.

**

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**

"Hey," Tamotsu said when Izumi came to the lunch table. "Where's Keiko?"

Izumi smiled. "Not sure."

"Sure you don't know," Takuya said. "I'll bet you did something horrible to her."

"What?" Izumi demanded. "Just because she's not here doesn't mean I did something to her!"

"You don't have to go around accusing people," Kouji said. "Just because Izumi and Keiko don't like each other doesn't mean she did something."

At that moment Keiko came over to the table. Her hair was damp and looked flatter in some places. "Sorry I'm late guys," she said as she sat down. "The one day I decided to take a shower the hot water turned off and I was just shampooing my hair… Then I couldn't find my clothes… So I had to wear my smelly gym clothes."

Izumi had a smug smile from across the table and Tamotsu looked over at her. He looked back at the brunette next to him and realized that she was shivering with a miserable look on her face. He sent a glare in the blonde's direction. "Izumi. Did you do that to her?"

"Why are you accusing her?" Kouji demanded. "The hot water turns off all the time. You can't just expect that it was Izumi."

"Yeah, I can. Maybe the hot water was an accident, but how could her clothes suddenly come up missing?" he asked Kouji. Everybody looked nervous. Not many people tried to argue with Kouji.

"It's called a prank, it could've been anyone," Kouji snarled.

"On the same day that they start disliking each other? We're not all the Great Minamoto Kouji, but it's not like we're all idiots, either," Tamotsu said. He stood up and grabbed Keiko's arm, pulling her out of the lunchroom.

He pulled her over to the boy's locker room and Keiko squeaked. "Umm, Tamotsu?"

"I have an extra shirt that's clean in here. Don't worry, nobody's here this bell."

He stopped at the door and pulled her into a tight hug, burying his face into her neck. Keiko felt her face burn up. "Tamotsu?"

"You're so cold," he said. "I'm sorry, Keiko."

She smiled and closed her eyes, but they popped open wide when she felt his hot lips brush against her ice cold neck. "T-Tamotsu?"

He pulled away and brushed some of her damp hair behind her ear. "Sorry… Just, do you have any idea how pretty you are?"

Keiko blinked and looked down. "Th-thanks Tamotsu…"

He smiled. "You're welcome cutie pie. Why don't we get those clothes now?" He took her hand and pulled her into the locker room.

* * *

Kouji dropped onto his bed. He had just spent the last six hours on his math homework. He was in the most advanced class for math. There were only seven kids; the extremely gifted ones. Kouji sighed. Normally it didn't take that long to do the twenty questions because he always got help from Keiko…

Kouji shook his head of that thought. He hated the brat, after all! Especially after what she said. _"Maybe if Kouji weren't such a jerk, he wouldn't be so alone." _Just thinking about it pissed him off.

And then the thing Takuya said… _"Wow, no wonder Ms. Kimura took Kouichi instead."_

He pushed his face into his pillow and let out an angry yell. He hated them both.

A knock on his door interrupted his thoughts. "Kouji?" It was his step mother.

"Yeah, mom?" he called.

"Do you still want dinner, sweetie? It's your favorite!"

He sighed and shook his head, clearing his throat when he realized she couldn't see that. "No thanks. I'm too tired…"

"Alright. I'll leave it in the refrigerator in case you get hungry later."

"Kay…"

He reached over and switched off his lights, sighing as he burrowed into the blankets. He trusted them… He trusted both of them with his life. How could they say such horrible things?

He shut his eyes. Because they were bad people. Heck, most off the people in that group were. Besides him and Izumi and Kouichi, of course. They were the only true people in the group.

He sighed. His pride wouldn't even allow him to think about how much he missed his friends. Tomoki's naivety and funny gestures; Junpei's jokes and laughter; Keiko smile and her sweet demeanor; Takuya's determination and his crooked grin.

He missed the look on Tomoki's face when he would lose a battle in the Digital World. His face would be sad for a moment, but whenever Takuya tried to give a speech, Tomoki would immediately give his two cents as well.

He missed the triumphant cheers from Junpei when he agreed with a good idea. Junpei got this smile and he would suggest other things to make sure things were foolproof.

He missed how kind Keiko was. When they were supposed to be studying, he missed how she would hum, and it would put him to sleep. He would feel embarrassed when he woke up and she was still working, but he would always smile when he found that a blanket was draped over him.

He missed it when he and Takuya had sleepovers. Takuya would always sleep on the ground, and in the middle of the night, Kouji would feel a body press against his back, huddling against him for comfort. Kouji never kicked him out of bed either, even though they both knew he was awake.

But Kouji wouldn't admit he missed them. The most he would ever admit to himself is that maybe… maybe, it wasn't as easy without them.

**

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**

"…So… you don't miss them at all?" Kouichi asked his blonde friend, who was currently attempting to style her hair.

Izumi shook her head. "Nope."

Kouichi looked down at his hands. He wasn't really that mad at his other friends. He just didn't want to go against his brother. "Well, why don't you?"

"Because, they said all of those horrible things about us. Real friends don't do that," Izumi explained.

"Izumi, we all said bad things about each other. You said some horrible things, too," Kouichi said.

Izumi glared at Kouichi. "I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Fine," Kouichi sighed, standing up. "Then maybe I don't want to talk to you."

Izumi glared wholeheartedly at the older twin as he walked out of her room. When the door closed, she sighed and looked at her reflection. Maybe she did want to talk about it.

**

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**

A knock at the door caused Keiko to look to her left. She was seated in front of her mirror and was trying to fix her hair and makeup for the Halloween dance.

"Come in," she said, turning back to the mirror.

Keiji's (girl?)friend walked into the room, smiling at the brunette. "Hey, Keiko."

"Ah, hi, Ayaka," she replied, smiling.

"Well, I was just wondering if you wanted me to do your hair?" she suggested.

Keiko nodded. "Sure. Thanks."

Ayaka smiled and walked behind Keiko, pulling the brown locks out of it's hair tie and running a hand through the tresses. "So, who are you going as, again?" she asked.

"Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz," Keiko stated, smiling a little bit.

"So you want, like, kind of ringlets?" Ayaka asked. "And then we'll tie them into pigtails…"

Keiko nodded. "Yes, please."

Ayaka got to work, pulling pieces of hair away and curling them with ease. She sighed dreamily. "I've always wished my hair was straight like yours."

"But it is," Keiko said, looking up at the light brunette curling her hair.

"I straighten it," Ayaka explained. "But yours is nice and straight." She ran a hand through it.

"Well, I can't really do anything with it," Keiko said.

"Oh, you can, too," Ayaka replied. "A lot more than what you could do with mine." She tied her hair into two blue ribbons and smiled at her work. "Now you just need to get changed without ruining your hair…"

"Could you help me?" Keiko asked, looking up to the older girl.

Ayaka smiled. "Sure."

**

* * *

**

"Well, well, don't you look hot," Izumi said with a wry smile as Kouji adjusted the large collar to his costume. He was going as a vampire.

"Thanks," he said.

Izumi walked up and helped him put his finishing touches on his costume. It was a long cloak with a collar that covered his chin and neck. He was wearing black pants and black shoes.

"You know, I wouldn't mind if you bit me," Izumi said playfully, laughing.

"I wouldn't either," Kouji replied, turning away from the blonde to get something from the bathroom.

Izumi flushed and cleared her throat. "Do you dance?"

"Maybe," he called back.

"Well, we'll dance together. If you're okay with that," Izumi said, smiling as he came out of the bathroom.

"Yeah, that'll look great. A pink bunny grinding on a vampire," Kouji said dryly.

Izumi smiled. "Well, do you like it?" She spun around once.

Kouji nodded. "Yeah."

She had on pink bunny ears and the common playboy bunny costume, complete with black stockings and pink shoes. "I hope it's not too much…"

Kouji smirked. "Not at all."

**

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**

"You look so cute!" Michiko exclaimed, hugging Keiko tightly. "Aww! I love it so much!"

Keiko smiled. She was wearing a blue and white checkered dress with a white shirt with poofy sleeves. She had on red, sparkly high heels and white socks. "Thanks! I like yours too."

Michiko was dressed as Pocahontas. Her hair wasn't dark or long, but she looked quite cute in the outfit she was wearing.

"Thanks."

Takuya strolled up, dressed in a torn shirt and torn jeans. He had furry hands and wore a furry wig. "Well, hello ladies."

"Hi," Michiko said. "Are you a werewolf?"

Takuya nodded. "I sure am! I'm a pretty cute one too!"

Michiko giggled and pet Takuya's head. "Yep! Did you guys see Kouji and Izumi? They look really hot!"

Keiko rolled her eyes. "I don't even want to know what Izumi's wearing. She probably got it from a sex store."

Michiko's eyes widened. "Wow. That was mean…"

Keiko shrugged. "Like I care."

Michiko sighed. "When are you two going to get over everything? It's been forever! Come on!"

Keiko was about to answer when Tamotsu came up to them, smiling. "Hey, guys. You all look good." He was dressed as a football player.

"Where'd you get your costume? It looks like a real football player's uniform," Takuya said.

"It was my brother's when he was my age," Tamotsu said. "He let me wear it."

"That's cool… Have you seen Kouichi anywhere?" Takuya asked suddenly.

Tamotsu nodded. "He's with Kouji by the concession stand. He's the dude in the James Bond getup."

Takuya nodded. "Thanks. I'll be right back…" With that, he walked to the twins. He spotted Kouichi immediately and tapped his shoulder.

Kouichi turned around and smiled at Takuya. "Hi, Takuya." Kouji just glared.

"Hey Kouichi. Will you come to the bathroom with me?"

Kouji growled. "What, are you a girl? You can't go to the bathroom yourself or something?"

"Kouji, it's okay," Kouichi said with a sigh. "I'll be back."

Takuya smiled smugly as he walked into the bathroom with Kouichi. "So…" the brunette said casually. "Um… how are you?"

"I'm okay," Kouichi said. They were silent for a moment. "Are you mad at me?"

Takuya shook his head. "No… Are… you mad at me?"

"I never was," Kouichi said. "I just didn't want to go against Kouji, because I was afraid he would be mad. But we all talked about each other, so I mean… why get mad at you two?"

Takuya nodded in agreement. "Yeah, I think it's pretty stupid, too. Kouji and Izumi refuse to talk to me…"

"I know," Kouichi said sadly. "I've been trying to talk to them, but nothing's working… I do have a plan though. It would involve all seven of us in one room. Think we can handle it?"

Takuya smirked and nodded. "So, what's the plan?"

**

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**

"Takuya?" Keiko asked as he and the brunette entered the living room of Kouji and Kouichi's father's spacious living room. There, sitting on the couches were Izumi, Kouji, Junpei and Tomoki. It was only supposed to be her, Takuya and Kouichi. "Why the hell are _they _here?"

"I was wondering the same thing," Junpei hissed.

"We're all here because we need to stop fighting," Kouichi said, glaring at everybody in the room. "It was stupid. We all have things we don't like about each other, so we can't let it get in the way of-"

"Sorry, Kouichi," Izumi interrupted. "I'm too much of a Satanic bitch for Takuya to talk to me."

"Izumi's right," Kouji agreed. "Takuya's too busy on his high horse. Considering that he has an idea of why mom took you instead."

Takuya growled. "Well you guys said some nasty things about me too! And about each other! Don't forget that!"

"Yeah!" Tomoki yelled. "Who would want to hang out with you two anyway! Just like Keiko said… thought… You two are so into yourselves!"

"Huh… I forgot she said that," Kouji hissed, glaring daggers at said brunette.

Keiko had discreetly hid behind Takuya. "Yeah? Well, it's not like you weren't just as bad. Remember what you said?" She stepped out from behind Takuya. "I'm just a materialistic imbecile who needs a grip on reality! What do you even _know?"_

"Yeah, what do you know Kouji?" Junpei yelled. "You obviously don't care enough about us to ask about our lives! You're selfish, just like Kouichi said!"

"It's not like you know anything more!" Kouji yelled right back. "And besides, before you met us, you never even had friends! I don't know if it's just me, or everyone who thinks you're just a filler until we find somebody better and _thinner _than you!"

Junpei's eyes widened. "Hey!" Keiko yelled louder than most had heard her. "Junpei's lot a lot of weight, and he looks fine! Maybe you were the one who didn't lose anything! Like that rotten attitude of yours! If it weren't for all of us, you'd still be a moping little brat who doesn't open up to anything!"

"Don't yell at him!" Izumi screeched. "You're the one who hasn't changed! You're still selfish and rude and most of all spoiled! If anyone's the bad guy, it's you and Takuya!"

"Shut up! You're just jealous that nobody likes you!" Keiko screamed.

"You would know! All of the guys love me and they think you're plain and flat and stupid and ugly! You're such a _**PLAIN JANE!!!**_"

"You're disgusting!" Takuya roared. "You're a self indulgent wannabe whore! All you care about is how good you look or how many guys are fawning about you! Your beauty is only skin deep!"

"At least she is pretty on the outside!" Kouji yelled. "You just act like a fool and play dumb to get people to like you! You're never going to become what you want to be because you don't know how to quit while you're ahead! Nobody thinks anything of you because there's nothing to _THINK ABOUT!"_

Takuya swung his fist into Kouji's jaw, sending him into the coffee table. "Me and you," he growled. "Outside. _Now."_

Kouji stood up, ignoring the bruise forming on his cheek and he followed the brunette out of the house. They went into the large backyard while Keiko and Kouichi tried to stop them from fighting.

They couldn't do anything about it, though. Takuya was on Kouji in an instant, trying to knock him to the ground. It was Kouji instead, who knocked him into the grass. He kicked the brunette in the hip and the punched him in the gut.

Takuya recovered quickly and landed a viscous punch to Kouji's chest. "Stop it!" Kouichi yelled. "Stop it right now!"

They weren't even listening. They concentrated instead on beating each other's faces and kicking each other harder than they've ever kicked anything in their lives.

"Stop guys!" Keiko cried. With wide eyes, Keiko noticed that Takuya's hands were glowing red, while Kouji's were blue. "No… No! Stop fighting! Something'll happen!" she yelled.

Kouji and Takuya charged into each other so hard, red and blue flew around the Legendary Warriors.

They weren't in the backyard anymore. They found themselves in a strange place instead. It was like night, they could see, but it was dark. There was nothing around at all. It was just ground and air.

Kouji and Takuya hadn't stopped fighting. If anything, it had gotten more fierce. They were ruthlessly kicking and punching and biting, anything they could do to get the upper hand.

"Stop!" Izumi yelled. "Please just stop!"

Something happened that scared them all. Takuya _roared. _Roared like an animal or something. Definitely not a human something. In a voice unlike his own, he shouted, "Fire! Beast Evolution!"

Light surrounded him and Kouji growled like a wolf. "Light! Beast Evolution!" he shouted.

And there, right in front of the other five, were BurningGreymon and KendoGarurumon.

**

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**

And I'm pretty sure I just left you guys hanging again? Haha, it's alright, I survived after the last chapter so of course I… AH!!! *Sees a rabid My-Little-Star in window* O-Oh k-kay… I'm sorry about that everybody, but uh… I'm evil. Hehehoho. Well, review and what not. AND GUESS WHAT?!? Okay, so um, SepherZmon drew a picture from this story of Kouji and Kouichi in the little boo hoo scene. :D Check it out, I'll put the link on my page when he/she sends it to me! :D

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	21. Night Light, Shine Bright

**Review replies for chapter 20 (TWENTY CHAPTERS ALREADY?!?):**

**Momentai35: **Haha, yeah, it was pretty intense, huh? Thanks so much for reviewing, and I hope you like this chapter!

**My-little-star: **Hehe, it's not good at all, it's terrible! Muahaha! Aha, you thought I'd let them all off that easily? Come on, you should know me better than that. xD I got into a little thing like that with my friends, too. I think it was two years ago… But, everybody was all divided and me and another one of my friends were the only who were kind of neutral. It was baaaad. :P I got tempered glass, just because of crazy readers. Hehe, not you though. *cough, cough* Well, thanks so much for reviewing, and I hope you like this chapter!

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **Of course you hate Izumi, you lesbian. Heehaw. Thanks for the review, pumpkin. You may hate me now though. xD

**PurpleViolin: **Aww! Thanks! I'm really glad you like my story! Yeah, Izumi's kind of a mean-bean (Whaat?), but maybe something will change her? Oh, don't you worry, _they _won't be the ones getting hurt. Haa… HAAA!!! Ooh, you're a die hard Tameiko fan. Hehe, I'm starting to really like it too… Ooh, Kouji, I hope you didn't eat dinner, because you've just been served. Haha, oh jeez. Well, thanks so much for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Empyrea: **Oh yeah, things are definitely getting bad. -.- Oh yeah, Izumi's taken a turn for the worse too. Let's hope she changes! The two of them gaining spirits out of anger and hatred is totally not a good thing… I'm so happy you liked this chapter! Thank you for the wonderful review!

Sorry this is so late, guys, girls and Sydney! Tennis season started and I've been busy. I have practice from 8 to 11, then I get home and sleep for an hour or two, I get lunch, attempt to write some stuff, eat dinner and then go to sleep on top of betaing and whatnot… Well, sorry to leave you all at such a cliffhanger! It was very mean. Heh heh… Well, have a nice read!

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**

Kouichi sluggishly opened his eyes, taking in his surroundings. White sheets. Beeping noises. Soft voices. He didn't realize where he was until he looked to his right.

Chairs and a door were on the wall and nothing else. He realized he had an IV in one of his arms and machines hooked up to his chest. A hospital… Why was he in the hospital?

"Kouichi?"

The raven haired boy looked over to the source of the voice to find that Izumi was standing in the doorway, a shocked expression on her face. "You're… awake?"

Kouichi nodded and tried to say something, but his throat was dry and his lips were chapped. Izumi rushed over to him and helped him drink some water that had been on his bedside table. "Are you okay? Are you in any pain?" she asked frantically. "I need to tell Kouji!" She ran off and flew down the hall.

Kouichi blinked twice, tilting his head to the side. Why was she so frantic about getting his brother? What happened?

"Kouichi!"

And suddenly a body was on top of his and said body was squeezing the life out of him. "You're awake! You're finally awake!" It was Kouji's voice for sure, but Kouichi just didn't understand why everybody was freaking out so much.

"F-Finally?" Kouichi rasped.

Kouji looked at him, then looked back to the door where Izumi was standing, looking somewhat nervous. Kouichi noticed that she had cut her hair. It was now hovering over her shoulders, where before it had gone to the middle of her back. "I'll go get the doctor and I'll call your parents. It's a little bit too late to call Takuya and the others, so we'll call them in the morning."

"Too… late?" Kouichi asked slowly, finding that talking was sort of shaky. "What happened?"

Kouji shook his head. "I…" He sighed. "I'll tell you tomorrow. It'd be better that way."

Kouichi nodded slowly, sensing that something was bothering Kouji. A doctor walked into the room and smiled. He was tall and had brown hair with green eyes, looking somewhat familiar. "Hi, Kouichi. How are you feeling?"

Kouji nodded. "I'm okay…"

The doctor smiled and at that point Kouichi _knew _that he had seen this man, or at least somebody who looked like him, before. "I'm Doctor Tanaka," he said. Tanaka… who's last name was that…? "I've been monitoring you for the duration that you've been unconscious. Can you tell me what day it is?"

"Um… It's Halloween night, right? October 31st?" he guessed softly.

The doctor shook his head and offered a weak smile. "Actually, Kouichi, it's November 28th. You've been unconscious for almost a month now."

**

* * *

**

After some questioning and examinations, Kouichi figured out that he had fallen from a tree, hitting his head and knocking himself into a coma. It was slightly suspicious, though, because last he could remember, Kouji and Takuya were fighting, and he was nowhere near any trees.

His parents came, and he was only able to stay awake for an hour before he found himself in the world of darkness again. He didn't dream, but when he woke up, it was light out, and Kouji was sitting in one of the chairs, looking through a textbook while Keiko was saying something and pointing to shapes on the page. Izumi was next to Keiko, writing things in a workbook while Takuya stared into space on her right, listening to his iPod.

Takuya was the first one to notice he had woken up, and he grinned. "Hey Kouichi! How're you feeling?" he asked as he pulled the ear buds out.

Kouji's head shot up and his lips curled up a little bit, while both of the girls had full blown smiles on their faces.

"I'm okay…" Kouichi said. "Thirsty…"

Kouji stood up and gave him a glass of water. "Here," he said softly. "Careful not to spill it."

Kouichi nodded and managed to drink the whole thing, sighing as he finished. His gaze wandered over to the two brunettes sitting in the chairs. Takuya looked relatively the same, maybe a little bit leaner, the smile on his face entirely familiar. Keiko looked normal too, although in some way, she looked a bit prettier with new bangs sweeping across her forehead.

Kouichi looked back up to his brother. "Kouji?"

"Yeah?" the younger twin answered, not making eye contact with his brother.

"I didn't fall out of a tree, did I?" he asked. Kouji didn't answer, he just stared at the sheets. "Can you tell me what happened?"

Kouji sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Takuya and I were fighting. You remember that, right?"

Kouichi nodded. "Yeah, I remember."

"Well, we changed into our beast spirits and we lost control. We were going to kill each other. I mean, we were honestly about to finish each other off, but you got in-between us and you took the attack," Kouji finished rather slowly. "You were Lowemon at the time. That's the only way you survived. You were pretty hurt and you weren't waking up, and…" He stared at the bedspread, finding it much more interesting than anything else.

Keiko picked up where he left off. "And we called an ambulance. They brought you here, and we told them you fell from a tree and landed on your head." She shook her head. "We didn't know if you would wake up for the first week and…" She looked over to Kouji. "Kouji was a nervous wreck."

The younger twin glared at Keiko, who didn't even bat an eyelash at his stare. "You pulled through though. And there was no permanent brain damage, although you broke your elbow, which is all healed up now."

"We were all worried that you weren't going to be okay," Izumi said.

Takuya nodded. "Yeah. I mean, how dumb would it be to lose you because of some stupid argument? It got way out of control."

"We're sorry, Kouichi," Kouji said quietly.

Kouichi smiled at his twin. "Well, maybe next time, we should just talk about our problems instead of bottling things up. That's how everything started."

"Yeah, it just came so fast," Izumi sighed. "We didn't even know we felt that way until we heard it all that day… But, we're so glad you're okay, Kouichi."

Takuya nodded. "Definitely. And as soon as you get out of the hospital we're all going to get together and hang out. We should really rekindle our friendship."

"What did I miss?" Kouichi asked. "I mean, did anything big happen while I was unconscious?"

Izumi smiled. "Actually… a lot of things happened." She looked at the others. "I think I'll start…"

**

* * *

**

"_So, what you're going to do, is do a long brushstroke, then you follow it by dabbing the edges," Izumi instructed the brunette boy next to her. "Got it Asashi?"_

"_Eh… I think so," he replied as he attempted to follow the blonde's orders. "I'm not too good at art, as you can see…" He sighed and put the brush down. "Never have been…"_

"_Nonsense!" Izumi exclaimed. "I think your rendition of a cow is wonderful."_

"_It's a tree," the boy said dryly._

"_That's what I said," the blonde said quickly. "Well, I see it, now. The leaves and the trunk and stuff… If you're having so much trouble, then why don't you stay after school?"_

"_Because the teacher's insane," he replied lowly. "Besides, it's not fun to learn art."_

"_It could be if you found the right person to help you," Izumi said as she went back to painting._

"_Like you?" he suggested._

"_Me?" she asked. "Well, I guess. If you want me to help, that is…"_

"_I do," he said, packing his stuff as he looked at the clock. "We can catch dinner or something after, okay? I'll call you."_

"_Alright," Izumi said with a smile. "I'll give you my number."_

_Asashi looked at the clock and noticed they only had a minute or so left. "Why don't you just paint it on my arm? It'll be easier."_

_Izumi smiled and flushed slightly. "O-Okay…" She painted the seven digits of her number and looked up at him. "Give me a call…"_

"_Will do," he replied as he left the room. "I'll see you around, Izumi."_

"_Bye, Asashi…"_

**

* * *

**

"I never heard about that story," Keiko said with an indignant huff.

"Neither did we," Kouji and Takuya said with glares.

"Well, it just happened today, so I decided I'd wait to tell you," Izumi replied, sticking her tongue out. "But, yeah, that's really all that happened in my week… Oh! But something hilarious happened to Keiko!"

"Izumi! _Don't!_" Keiko wailed.

"Okay… So a week or so ago…"

**

* * *

"_Keiko, you okay?" Izumi asked as the brunette shakily opened her locker and got her books out. The brunette had bags under her eyes and looked like she hadn't slept in days._**

"_No," Keiko said. "Yesterday… I saw…" She shook her head._

"_What did you see, Keiko?" Izumi pressed curiously._

"_Ju-on. It was so scary, Izumi. I didn't sleep last night because Mister Boots was doing the death rattle outside of my door to try and scare me," she said._

"_Mister Boots was? Your __**cat?**__" Izumi asked in a disbelieving tone._

"_Isn't she mean? I kept telling her to stop, but she just laughed…" Keiko said sadly._

"_Keiko, how in the world did your cat-"_

"_But I've been seeing that little boy all over the place. I swear he was in my shower, so I didn't take one this morning. And he was totally in my cereal bowl, so I skipped breakfast, and then he took on the form of my brother, so I was obligated to roundhouse kick him…"_

"_I doubt that you're brother's the little kid from the movie… Wait, I thought you already saw it. Remember that one time we went to the movies and the haunted house and we went to the midnight showings?" Izumi asked._

"_We were only five minutes into it," Keiko said desperately._

"_Keiko, you need to relax," Izumi said. "Wait, who did you see the movie with?"_

_Just as Keiko was about to reply, a hand grabbed her ankle and the death rattle reverberated through the halls. Keiko screamed and ran down the hall, but a hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her back._

_Keiko spun around and smacked 'the grudge' straight across the face._

"_Ouch, Keiko!" a voice exclaimed. "Didn't mean to scare you so bad, cutie!"_

_Keiko's eyes widened. "Oh, I'm sorry Tamotsu! I didn't mean to hit you like that! I though you were the kid from the movie!"_

"_I'm much cuter than that brat," Tamotsu said with a huff. "And taller… I had fun the other night. We should hang out again some time. And it could be at my house."_

"_O-Okay," Keiko said, still a little bit shaky. "Sounds good. Let's just not watch a scary movie this time…"_

"_Aww," Tamotsu whined, draping himself over the girl's back. "But it's so cute when you flail around because you're so scared." He licked her cheek. "I'd hold you if you'd have asked, you know," he added in a low tone._

_Suddenly, Keiko was on the ground, twitching slightly._

"_Look what you did," Izumi said with a sigh, nudging the brunette with a toe. "You made her faint… Again, Tamotsu. I'd think twice this week was enough."_

_Tamotsu smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. I couldn't help myself…" He tilted his head. "Hey, Izumi?"_

"_Yeah?" Izumi replied, turning her attention back to the blonde in front of her._

"_I was just thinking. Me and Asashi think you'd look really great with short hair," he said._

"_Asashi said that?" Izumi asked. "Really?"_

_He nodded. "Funny… Now that I think about it, you're all he ever talks about…"_

_Izumi squealed. "I've… I've gotta go! I'll see you!" She ran down the hall._

"_Actually, you're all Takuya talks about, too," Tamotsu mused to himself. "Well, it's just you and me, Keiko," he said with a sigh to the stirring girl on the ground. He took her arm and lifted her to her feet. "Come on, we'll be late to History."_

**

* * *

**

"You… fainted?" Kouichi asked slowly. He suddenly burst into laughter.

"Not funny," Keiko grumbled. "It was really embarrassing. Imagine what'll happen if he ever kisses me…"

"Kisses you?" Kouji muttered.

"Kisses you?" Izumi asked with a gasp. "Does that mean…?"

Keiko shrugged. "It could mean whatever…" She cleared her throat. "But Takuya's got a funny story…"

**

* * *

**

"_So, I'm thinking that we could visit Kouichi at three, then we could get a late lunch or something after," Takuya said thoughtfully._

"_Okay," Keiko agreed. "Is that okay, Kouji?"_

"_It's fine," the ravenette muttered. "We have to stay for at least an hour, though…"_

"_Alright," Junpei said. "We'll leave at four or four thirty or something. That okay?"_

"_Yeah, my mom wants me home at five thirty or six or seomthing, so that's perfect," Tomoki said, smiling brightly._

"_Perfect," Takuya said happily. "I could get my mom-"_

"_Takuya! Look out!" Keiko shouted._

_Just as Takuya turned around, his forehead was planted on a light post. He stood there for a moment, a grimace twisted on his face, before he dropped to the ground, a red mark forming on his head._

"_Are you okay?" Tomoki asked as he hurried over to the brunette._

"_I'm fine," Takuya said, sitting up with the help of Tomoki. "Did anybody else see that?"_

_Tomoki shook his head. "I don't think so."_

"_Well, actually…" Junpei said softly._

_The five of them looked up and saw the school cheerleaders, including Izumi, laughing at the brunette. "Of course…" Takuya mumbled, his face turning red._

**

* * *

**

"That's _really _embarrassing," Kouichi said sympathetically, whereas Izumi was covering her mouth with her hand, trying to muffle her laughter.

"Sure is," Takuya said with a sigh. He tugged Izumi's hair. "Shut up, Izumi."

"Sorry…" she snorted. "It was just so funny from where I was standing…"

"Anything happen to you, Kouji?" Kouichi asked curiously.

"Not really," the younger twin sighed. "I was here, mostly. Everybody at school's been really worried. The teachers, too."

"But mostly Kouji," Keiko said quietly. Kouji glared at her again, but Keiko didn't look at him. "We've all changed in a month, you know… It's amazing what this did to us all."

Takuya nodded. "Kouichi… Kouji and I… We never meant to hurt you. We're so sorry."

Kouichi smiled. "Don't worry about it. I'm okay, right?" He looked at Kouji, who was still staring at the sheets.

"Well," Izumi said standing up. She got the idea that the twins wanted to be alone. "We're going to get out of here. We'll be back tomorrow."

"Bye," both brunettes said with a wave as they left.

Once the three were gone, silence overtook the room. Kouji plucked at the bed sheets while Kouichi stared at his brother, trying to make eye contact. Kouichi scooted over a little bit. "Want to lay down with me?" he asked.

Kouji, still not looking at him, nodded and got under the covers with his brother. Kouichi turned the TV on and switched it to some random reality show.

"I'm sorry, Kouichi," Kouji said quietly.

"Don't be," Kouichi replied, smiling. "I forgave you a long time ago."

* * *

So… Sorry about such a short chapter. As I said before, tennis started and I've been pretty busy. Well, a golden star goes to whoever can guess who Doctor Tanaka's kid is! Anyway, have a nice day. ^.^


	22. Violet Hill

**Review replies for chapter 21 (Hey! Where'd you all gooo?!?):**

**Empyrea: **Yeah, a kind of half and half as far as filler vs. chapter… I'm so happy they're not mad anymore! My muses were going to kill me. xD Thanks so much for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**Momentai35: **I'm really glad you liked the ending! Thanks a bunch for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**GirlsLikeeBoys: NOO! **It's not Michiko, come on now! Yeah, that was the reason you were supposed to come over and throw a Reese's Pieces at me. OOPS! I forgottedd. Oh wells! AH FOUND EET! Well, I hope ya like this next chapter, and thank you for your review!

**A/N: **Yeah… I pulled an all nighter and it's noon right now. Don't ask how I did it, please. I have practice at three until five, so I'm going to nap for an hour or so… Oh, and to any of you living around LA, I send my hearts out to you. Please, if you're told to evacuate your homes, do it. I'm way over in New York, so I didn't even hear about the wildfires until today… Be safe over there!

**

* * *

**

On December 5th, Kouichi was released from the hospital with his mother and Kouji. He was surprised, but pleased when he saw that it was snowing outside. The older twin was extremely happy that he was able to come home in time for Christmas.

Kouichi groaned as he lay on his stomach on Keiko's couch. He had a tough time keeping his energy up trying to get through school. His muscles were extremely sore from not using them.

"Here. I got an Icy Hot Patch. Lift your shirt," Keiko said as she came into the room with a white strip in her hand.

Kouichi reached back to lift his shirt, but his arms tightened up painfully and he was barely able to move them. With a pitiful sigh, he dropped his arms back down. "I can't…" he mumbled.

"It's okay," Keiko said as she sat down on the edge. She lifted his shirt in the back up to his neck. She peeled off the protective coating and smoothed the patch over his back. "There we go. You can just lie down until you can move again... You okay?" She put his shirt back into place.

He nodded and rested his face in the pillow. "It was a lot harder to walk up all those flights of stairs than I remember…" He sighed. "When I move around it feels really strange."

"I'm sorry," Keiko said, taking a seat by his feet and taking his socks off slowly. "But the more you move, the quicker the pain will go away."

"Easier said than done…" Kouichi said quietly as the brunette dug her thumbs into the sole of his swollen feet. "Oww…"

"Sorry," Keiko said softly just as Kouji walked into the room with a glass of water. He handed it to the older twin and sat on the armchair next to the couch. "How're you feeling?"

Kouichi shrugged, sipping on his water. "Okay, I guess."

"I'm really sorry about everything, Kouichi," Kouji said.

"It's okay, seriously. It was an accident, after all," the shorter haired boy replied.

Kouji didn't reply, he just stared at the floor.

Keiko spoke up. "Well, at least it's the weekend now. Two days of relaxation, right?"

Kouichi nodded, groaning when his neck cracked loudly. "Oww…"

Keiko saw a sad wince on Kouji's face. "Hey, Kouji, are you-" She was interrupted by a knock on the door. "Hang on, I think it's the others…" She lowered Kouichi's foot carefully and stood up and walked out of the room.

Kouji didn't speak to his brother, he simply fidgeted uncomfortably. Kouichi had noticed something wrong with him since he woke up. It wasn't guilt anymore, it was something else… He could sense it.

"Kouji? Did something happen while I was gone?" he asked slowly.

Kouji looked up at him and Kouichi noticed just how tired he looked. His skin looked slightly pale and there were slight rings under his eyes. What happened to him? "Kouichi… I-"

"Hey Kouichi!" Izumi exclaimed as she, Takuya, Tomoki, Junpei and Keiko walked into the house. "How do you feel?"

Kouichi, making sure he didn't move too much, smiled softly as Keiko sat back down at his feet. "I'm feeling okay. Better than earlier. I have an Icy Hot Patch on right now…"

"That's good," the blonde said with a smile. "You were pretty sore in History today, huh?"

Kouichi nodded, immediately regretting the movement when his neck tightened painfully. "Yeah," he ground out.

Keiko, who had just finished massaging his feet moved up to his left calve, wincing at the tightness in the muscles. "Maybe you should go to a masseuse, Kouichi. This is _really _bad. I thank that maybe you should've taken a week off from school like the doctors said…"

The older twin shook his head. "It's fine. I just don't want to get left behind with schoolwork. I'm getting caught up in literature and science, but history and math are way too hard," Kouichi said with an exasperated sigh.

"I could help with math," Keiko suggested. "The one class I'm actually consistently good at… There's not much I could do in history though, that's almost as bad as my science score…"

"Thanks, Keiko," Kouichi said, smiling at the brunette.

"I could always help with history," Junpei added. "We've already done the stuff that you've done, and we're reviewing it, anyway."

"Thank you guys," Kouichi said gratefully, twitching as Keiko's thumb made a movement that completely loosened his leg muscles. "I really appreciate all you've been doing for me."

"It's no problem," Tomoki said with a bright smile that could make grown men coo. (A/N: Ahaha, ewww. xD) "We're friends, and that's what friends do, right?"

Kouichi smiled and nodded slightly. "Yeah."

**

* * *

**

Kouji sighed for the sixteenth time in an hour as he sorted through his clothes, throwing things out as he switched his winter clothes into his dresser.

Keiko sat on the bed with Kouichi, giving him a hand with the math work he was attempting to make up. She was explaining an equation, when a flash of blue and yellow crossed her line of vision as it soared through the air.

"Hey!" Keiko exclaimed, jumping from the bed and into the large pile of clothes Kouji planned on throwing out. She grumbled as a sweatshirt hit her in the face as Kouji carelessly threw it into the pile.

Keiko grabbed an article of clothing from the pile and held it up. "You can't throw this out!" the brunette cried.

Kouji looked over and noticed she was holding an old blue zip up sweatshirt with yellow lining on it. "Why not?" he asked dryly.

"This is what you wore in the Digital World!" she explained heatedly. "It has emotional value. You can't give it away."

"I don't have room for it," Kouji said with an exasperated sigh at the girl's antics. "I have no other choice."

"I'll keep it," the aquamarine eyed teen suggested with a smile. "Can I?"

Kouji shrugged. "I don't really care. Do whatever you want with it."

Keiko smiled. "Thanks, Kouji." She climbed back onto the bed, answering a question the older twin asked her. Said twin laughed when Keiko 'discreetly' sniffed the article of clothing in her hand and her face turned a little bit pink.

"Ahem, are we going to study or what?" Kouichi asked with a laugh.

Keiko's bright eyes flashed up to him and her face turned red. "Oh, ahaha, yeah, of course!"

**

* * *

**

"Ow, ow, oww…" Kouichi whimpered as every step Kouji took sent shockwaves of discomfort through his system. The twins had missed the bus and were forced to walk home. Kouichi, who was still pretty sore was in pain, so Kouji volunteered to carry the older boy on his back. This was one of the things he would only do for his brother.

"It's okay, we're almost there," Kouji said as he walked down the long driveway to their father's house.

"I know," Kouichi groaned. "…Hey, Kouji?"

"Hmm?"

"A couple of days ago, I asked you if something happened while I was sleeping…" the twin began. "And you were about to tell me something. What was it?"

Kouji opened the back door and shut it with his foot. He walked into the living room and sat his brother on the couch. Hesitantly, the longer haired teen sat a little ways away from him.

"I…" He sighed and looked down at his feet, which were tapping the floor rapidly. "While you were asleep, there was…" Kouji shut his mouth, staring dejectedly at the floor.

"It's okay, Kouji. I won't judge you if it's something bad, you know," Kouichi said, trying to coax the situation out of his younger twin brother.

"There was a party… A little bit after Thanksgiving," Kouji said softly. "Me, Izumi, Keiko and Takuya went together. Rumor had it, that there was drinking involved, but we weren't… we weren't going just for that. We wanted to try to get out and forget about all that had happened… Izumi and Takuya went off dancing and Keiko and I were in the living room. Tamotsu came over and he was sitting with us too, and then there was this one girl…" Kouji looked off to the side, breaking his gaze with his brother.

"She was a sophmore in high school and she was… she was beautiful. She was curvy and she had bleach blonde hair, and she was smiling at me. She came over and she asked me to dance with her. It was really obvious that she liked me, and there were so many other girls there that wanted to dance with me and hang out with me and everything. It was like, I was the king of the party, or something.

"Keiko ended up leaving at around eleven or eleven thirty and Tamotsu walked her home. Then Takuya and Izumi left at midnight. I just stayed though, even though Takuya wanted me to go home with him, I stayed though and kept dancing with all these girls. The girl who I first danced with came back and pulled me into a bedroom or something like that. I don't really remember, because by then I had a few drinks and-"

"You drank?" Kouichi demanded. "Kouji, are you-"

"Let me finish," Kouji said firmly. He continued when he was sure Kouichi wasn't going to have an outburst at him again. "Stuff went down. We didn't do a _whole _lot, but there was some… heavy petting, and some stupid rutting… She gave me her number and I just… I laughed in her face and said it was a one time only thing and that she was just… just a _trick_. I ended up walking back home alone and I slept it off and everything."

Kouji let out a dry laugh. "And the funniest thing about it was… I didn't care, and I still don't." He smiled crookedly and looked at his brother. "Because, quite frankly, I could get whoever the _fuck _I want. I enjoyed getting into stuff with her and then never talking to her again, because she was _easy _and I could have a billion other girls just like her that are even prettier and that would go even _farther."_

Kouji grinned ruefully. "But, what kills me the most, is that if I even did that to _Keiko_ or Izumi, the only two girls I actually even _care about, _I wouldn't even _care!" _He laughed. "Because in the end they're all tricks and they just want to get in your pants because you're good looking or funny or whatever." He smiled. "And I want to do it again, because it was _fun _and I don't give a shit."

"K-Kouji…" Kouichi choked, a strange feeling of dread washing through him. What was happening to his brother? Why was he…?

Kouji smiled, standing up. "I'm going upstairs. I'll see you later Kouichi… I've got work to do."

"Kouji! Wait!" Kouichi cried as his brother headed up the stairs.

Kouji looked back. "No…" He blinked a few times, as if he was surprised he had said that word. "No… No, Kouichi. I won't wait." He smiled. "No."

**

* * *

**

"He really said that?" Keiko asked with wide eyes as Kouichi finished relaying the story over the phone to the brunette as well as Izumi.

"Seriously?" Izumi echoed. The phone was apparently on speaker.

"Yeah. I don't know what's wrong with him…" Kouichi said softly.

"That's how my brothers were," Keiko said. "I think it's just a phase. The whole 'high and mighty' thing, you know? It'll probably pass…"

"Did you guys see him dancing at the party?" Kouichi asked.

"Yeah," Izumi supplied. "He had a ton of girls swarming him. It was really weird." She paused. "Well, I mean Kouji's always had girls fawning over him, but they weren't always up front about it like that… He really said he wouldn't care if he did that to us though?"

"Yeah, I was so shocked," Kouichi sighed, turning onto his back and looking at the ceiling. "He's always been kind of… kind of _cold _about some things… But this was just strange."

"You being in that coma for a month really put a strain on him," Keiko said quietly. "He was pretty upset, you know… He stayed at Takuya's the night it happened, the same night that the doctors said you had a slim chance, and Takuya said that when he was almost asleep, he was crying pretty hard. And apparently when they woke up the next morning, his eyes were all swollen and stuff."

"Maybe he did that as a distraction from everything that was happening and it's something to make him not feel guilty," Izumi suggested. "Oww, Keiko, that's my _foot._"

"Sorry," Keiko mumbled, her voice sounding a little farther away. "Yeah, but I say you just let him have his space. He's probably still recovering from the emotional strain of almost losing you again."

"Yeah, you're right…" Kouichi replied. He heard footsteps coming down the stairs. "Well, I've gotta go. I'll talk to you in school, okay?"

"Alright," Izumi said.

"Bye!"

Kouichi hung up the phone, laying back on his side and watching TV. He heard somebody walk into the room and a light body lay on top of his. Kouichi looked up. "Kouji?"

"I'm not feeling like myself," Kouji said softly. "But I meant everything I said, and it scares me."

Kouichi sighed, reaching up and running a hand through his brother's hair. "It's okay," he said reassuringly. "It'll be fine."

Kouji sighed, burying his face in his brother's shirt. _'No it won't…' _the younger twin thought miserably. _'It won't.'_

**

* * *

**

"You have some serious bags under your eyes…" Kouji looked up and saw Takuya standing over him, looking quite concerned. "Is everything alright?"

Kouji shrugged. "I guess…"

Takuya knelt in front of his best friend's desk and met his dark blue eyes. "If something's bothering you, you can tell me."

"I know Kouichi told you, already," Kouji said quietly and Takuya sighed.

"He did," Takuya said. "He's worried and so are Izumi and Keiko and I. You wanna talk about it?"

Kouji shook his head. "Not really."

"Well, if you ever want to, I suggest you talk to Izumi. She's good with this stuff, you know?"

Kouji nodded. "Okay." The school bell rang and Takuya stood up to go take his seat. "Hey, Takuya?"

The brunette turned around. "Yeah?"

"Thanks."

**

* * *

**

Time passed slowly. After Kouji's small revelation, the group found things awkward with a completely silent Kouji, a calmer Takuya, a worried Kouichi and a blonde doing her best to help. Christmas passed, as well as New Years. Sometime in the middle of January, there was another party, but this time, Kouji insisted that he didn't do anything. Besides, nobody would be able to tell, anyway, they all left way before he did.

Kouji hadn't been himself at all. He tried to be the same sardonic dry-humored person he was before, but it just wasn't convincing enough. Takuya tried to lighten everybody up, but he just wasn't putting his heart into being cheerful. Keiko managed to get everybody to go ice skating, but when Kouji's conquest had showed up, he begged for them to leave with a desperation that nobody had seen since Kouichi had died in the Digital World.

Slowly, but surely, the group became slightly more normal. Kouji began to act sarcastic towards everybody again, Takuya became lively, Izumi's feisty attitude had returned full force and Kouichi was at ease. And everything had returned to normal just in time for Valentines Day.

**

* * *

**

What's going to happen to our Kouji? And even more importantly, what am I going to conjure up for Valentines day? LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

Oh, and to PurpleViolin... You can demand me on the V-day chapter or any chapter after that... It's all fine for me! :D

Why, oh, why must all these chapters be so short? I'm sorry! I'll try to get the next one to be much longer. This one had some pretty heavy stuff. I'm probably going to end up moving the rating up to M in the near future to be safe, because we'll have drinking, drugs and other mature stuff coming later. Damn, this is going to be long… Haha, well, read and review, everybody!


	23. Take My Hand, And I'll Take Your Heart

**A/N: **Another day, another chapter. :D So, my lovely (haha, NOPE.) beta decided to ask for me to give her a little bit of her favorite couple, complaining that there wasn't enough of it in the fic. And maybe there's not. So, enjoy, because most of you like this couple according to the poll… Cough… Never said it'd be a mushy, happy moment, either.

**

* * *

**

"Happy Valentines Day."

Kouji looked up at Keiko, who looked way too happy, considering it was Monday, a bell before lunch and they were in _math_ class. He raised an eyebrow as she set a red card down on his desk. "A Valentine?"

He sat up and opened the card. _Hope your Valentines day is __**bear**__able! _It read and had a picture of a bear with a red balloon in it's paw. There was also a Charms lollipop taped onto it. "Thanks, Keiko."

Keiko beamed, looking as if that made her day. "You're welcome! How's your day been so far?" she asked, sitting in her desk.

"It's been fine," he answered as he carelessly stuffed the card in his bag. He looked at the brunette, who had a look of devastation on her face. He sighed and pulled the card back out, smoothing it out and keeping it on his desk to the aquamarine eyed girl's delight.

"Any secret admirers?" she asked, waggling her eyebrows.

"Yeah," Kouji replied as if it was a normal occurrence.

"What? Really?" Keiko asked excitedly. "How many?"

"What's wrong with you?" he asked, staring at the girl. "They're just-"

"They're not _just anything, _Kouji! Valentines Day is the best day of the year! It's a chance to let the one you like know that you care!" she exclaimed. "Don't you have any secret admirers?"

He blinked. "Not really."

"Really?" Keiko asked sadly. "Nobody?"

"No," he repeated dryly.

"That's so sad, Kouji," she said. "Nobody's stolen your heart?"

"_No, _Keiko. Nobody's stolen my heart."

"Izumi's stolen you heart," Keiko said with a sly smile.

He sighed. "Whatever."

Keiko smiled, but it faded when he turned away and began working on the warm-up question. She opened her folder, staring at the red card inside with intricate gold lettering in her best calligraphy. _Kouji, _was the delicate word on it. She sighed and closed the folder. Maybe next year.

Kouji dumped seven cards on the table. "All from last class," he said with an annoyed tone. "I hate Valentines Day. I also got seventeen roses delivered to me during homeroom."

"I got three," Keiko chirped with a happy smile.

"I got three, too!" Tamotsu said excitedly.

"I got two," Izumi added and Takuya echoed the statement.

"Four," Kouichi said softly, smiling a little bit shyly.

"I got two," Michiko said.

"It's annoying," Kouji said. "They're all just going to die, anyway."

"You should be happy that people are thinking about you. It shouldn't be thought of as troublesome," Izumi said.

Kouji rolled his eyes. "It's not like they'll ever talk to me, after. They'll just end up giggling and running away every time they see me. They don't treat me like I'm a person."

"Because you're hot," Keiko said. "And girl get nervous around attractive guys." She shrugged. "Be a little more compassionate… They're only human."

"I guess," Kouji said quietly.

"Are you still coming over for the math assignment, Kouji?" Keiko asked, changing the subject.

He nodded. "Sure."

"Hey, Keiko?" Izumi asked from across the table. "Isn't that the jacket that Kouji was wearing when we first met?"

Keiko smiled blissfully. "He wanted to throw it out. But I didn't let him. So he let me have it!"

Kouji nodded. "She said there was too much emotional value in it or something and that I'd be crazy to throw it away."

"You would," everybody at the table said at once and Kouji sighed. He hated Valentines Day.

**

* * *

**

Keiko opened the door to her bedroom, allowing Kouji to come in behind her and sit on the bed. They pulled out their textbooks and folders, while making small talk about the day.

Keiko was horrified when she opened her math folder to see the card she was going to give Kouji. She took the card quickly and was about to put it in the trashcan.

"What's that?" Kouji asked, grabbing her wrist before she could drop the card in the bin.

"Nothing," Keiko said quickly, putting it behind her back. "Just a card I got from somebody."

"From who?" Kouji pressed curiously. "It looks like you didn't even open it."

"I didn't want to, because I know who it's from and they told me about what's inside of it," she made up.

"Liar," Kouji said, narrowing his eyes. "Give it to me."

"No," Keiko snapped defiantly, backing up as he tried to grab the card. "It's none of your business."

Keiko felt dread take her over as her hip bumped against her desk. She couldn't go back any farther. Kouji moved up to her until they were almost chest to chest and he reached behind her to take the card.

The brunette pushed him away and lunged to the paper shredder on the other side of the room. She felt a hand grab the back of her shirt and a leg sweep both of hers so that she fell onto her back gracelessly.

She tried to catch her breath, but Kouji took the card from her hands and looked at the front. He raised an eyebrow and opened it, reading the short message she wrote to him. Keiko was on the verge of having a panic attack when he gave put the card in his bag and turned to look at her.

"Sorry that I don't return your feelings."

He said it almost as if it was an everyday occurrence for him to reject a girl. Keiko sat on the floor, gaping like an idiot. "W-What?"

He looked at her again. "I said, I'm sorry that I don't return your feelings." He didn't even care! She liked him and he didn't even care about the way she felt! She was… she was just so… _crushed._

When she gave a card about the way she felt to Kouichi, it had gone without a hitch. He read it during lunch and he smiled and blushed, saying he wondered who was sweet enough to say such things. Keiko knew why she liked Kouichi, but now she wondered what she even saw in his brother.

"You should probably go now," she said the words before she could stop herself.

"Hmm? Why?" he asked. As if he didn't know…

"Because I have dance at four and I have to get ready," she replied quickly.

He glanced at the alarm. "That's a hour away. You can work for a half hour."

"No. You need to go. I have to get ready," she repeated.

He rolled his eyes. "Obviously you don't grasp the laws of time and-"

"I have to get ready," she said again, mentally slapping herself for sounding like a mega-idiot.

"Okay," he said. "When you're done being weird, call me. I don't care when. We need to get the project done, though. I'll talk to you later."

"Kay," Keiko replied as he walked out of the room with a wave. Keiko was shocked. It'd be one thing if he'd just rejected her, but no, he knocked her onto the floor to get a card, he'd acted like it was nothing, and to top it all off, he cared more about the project than the fact that she's pretty much just worn her heart on her sleeve just for him.

Keiko laid on her back and stared at the ceiling for a long, long time.

**

* * *

**

"What's that?" Kouichi asked as Kouji walked into their room, dumping a red card with his name in the trash bin.

"A card from Keiko," he replied as he sat on his bed, turning on the television.

Kouichi took it out of the can and opened it up, recognizing that it had the same handwriting as one of his cards. _Keiko wrote me a card? _He smiled and turned back to his brother.

"What did you say to her?" he asked slowly.

"Nothing. I don't really like her that much," Kouji said, resting his chin on his arms. "So I told her that I didn't return her feelings."

"O-Oh…" Kouichi looked back down at the card and smiled. "Okay."

**

* * *

**

Keiko's eyes widened when she opened the front door to her house at around seven at night. She was standing in a pink bathrobe with pink fuzzy slippers and damp hair. "Kouichi? Uh… Hi, there."

"Hey," he replied, seeming out of breath. "What's up?"

She laughed awkwardly. "Just got out of the shower… as you can see. Um…" she ran a hand through her hair. "What brings you here?"

"I just wanted to say sorry about me brother," he said.

"Ah, he told you about that?" she asked. "That's embarrassing."

He shook his head. "It's okay, because there's other fish in the sea, and I found out you sent me a secret admirer's card today and I-"

"Oh my God," Keiko cried exasperatedly. She looked beyond upset at this point. "This day can't get any better!"

Kouichi grabbed the sides of her face in his hands and pressed his lips against hers. He felt Keiko's breath hitch and felt shaky arms grab the side of his coat and pull him closer so that they were chest-to-chest.

The raven haired boy smiled and deepened the kiss, if only slightly. Keiko was absolutely swept away, she felt as if everything, from her fingertips to her toes, were tingling. She felt so happy that she wanted to cry.

Kouichi pulled away, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "I have to go home now, I didn't tell anybody I was leaving. We can talk tomorrow, okay?"

Keiko nodded, still pink in the face and out of breath. "O-Okay."

He gave her a parting kiss and smiled as he brushed his finger over her soft cheek. "Happy Valentines Day."

And with a squeaked "thanks" from Keiko, he was off and into the night. Keiko stared down at her feet for a moment before walking back into the warmth of the house. She saw her little gray cat sitting there, a sort of smile on it's face. She meowed.

Keiko smiled and the cat lifted it's paw into the air, meowing again. Keiko slapped the paw, giving the cat a high-five. "Right back at you, Mister Boots, right back at you."

**

* * *

**

"_Did you really?" _Izumi asked over the phone to Kouichi. _"Does anybody else know?"_

"Only you. I haven't told Kouji yet, because I don't know what he would say, and I'm afraid that Takuya would tell everybody in the school. Tamotsu would cut my head off, Michiko… I don't know what she'd do… I have no idea what Junpei would say and Tomoki would probably give me some really good advice as usual."

"_I feel pretty special!"_

"I'm glad." Kouichi grinned at Izumi's excited tone.

"_That's really sweet, Kouichi! I'm glad you finally did it!"_

Kouichi smiled and looked at the door as Kouji walked in. "Well, I'm going to go now. I just thought you should be the first to know. I'll talk to you tomorrow?"

"_You sure will. Bye, Kouichi!"_

"Bye, Izumi."

Kouji looked over from the computer desk. He was wearing a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt and his hair was slightly damp. Kouichi decided to call Izumi while he took a shower. "Izumi?"

Kouichi nodded. "Yeah, just a quick conversation."

"About what?" his twin asked casually as he turned on the computer.

"Nothing important," Kouichi replied. "Just about what happened in school."

"I know you went somewhere after dinner," Kouji said and Kouichi flinched. "What you did, though…" The younger twin met his elder's eyes. "I'm not quite sure."

"I made out with Keiko," Kouichi admitted in an unwavering voice.

Kouji raised an eyebrow at this. "Oh really?"

Kouichi nodded. "Really."

Kouji tilted his head to the side and narrowed his dark blue orbs. "And why, may I ask, did you make out with Keiko?"

Kouichi shrugged. "I like her."

Kouji nodded. "Huh. Okay." And with that, he turned back to his computer. Kouichi felt pretty bad for Keiko; he really _didn't _care.

**

* * *

**

When school rolled around the next day, Izumi found the slight tension at the table nerve-wracking. Takuya kept staring at her expectantly, while Keiko glanced over at Kouichi nervously every few minutes. Kouji was looking between Keiko and Kouichi, and Kouichi was making occasional eye-contact with Keiko, causing her to blush madly. Michiko's eyes were on Takuya and Tamotsu seemed to be brooding in his seat, staring at the table. Izumi felt slightly out of the loop. Oh, how she wanted to be in a love triangle…

"How does Keiko taste, Kouichi?" Kouji asked suddenly, and everybody's heads whipped up to the younger twin. "You should probably know since you shoved your tongue down her throat."

"You kissed Keiko?" Michiko shrieked.

"Wow, I don't think we should talk about this right now," Kouichi said.

"Maybe we should," Kouji replied evenly.

"You can tell me how Kimiko tastes first," Takuya interrupted suddenly. He had heard what happened the night before and he was going to stick up for Kouichi. "Or maybe the cheer captain in the high school, or that girl from our art class, or the girl you had a drunken encounter with, or your ass. You know, since your head's stuck up there."

"What?" Michiko shrieked in a higher pitch.

"This is gonna get ugly," Izumi whimpered.

"Kouji's afraid of spiders!" Takuya announced randomly. "And peanut brittle!"

"Shut up!" the younger twin snapped. "What does that have to do with-"

"Peanut brittle?" Izumi asked slowly.

"She tastes like strawberries!" Takuya exclaimed and Keiko began a ragged coughing fit. Izumi began to beat her back as Keiko choked apple juice up all over the table. Covering her mouth she ran out of the cafeteria, Izumi and Michiko on her tail.

"Wait, how do you know she tastes like strawberries?" Kouichi asked.

"Her birthday party last year. We kissed," Takuya explained. "Strawberries."

Tamotsu was still silent, not even looking up from the table. Takuya tilted his head to the side. "Hey, Tamotsu? Are you alright?"

Tamotsu smiled faintly. "Peachy." He looked over at Kouichi. "So, you kissed her?"

**

* * *

**

Keiko was exhausted by the time she got home from school. Kouji had harassed her all day about his brother and Tamotsu ignored her. Not a good day… Izumi had been by her side all day though, she insisted on being there so she could protect her from Kouji. But still, there was only so much she could do.

After volleyball practice, she found that Kouichi was sitting on the bleachers, waiting to talk to her. With a small smile she walked over to him, taking a seat at his side.

"Hi, Keiko," the older twin said with a bright smile.

"Hey, Kouichi. How're you?" she asked.

"I'm good. I just wanted to talk to you, like I promised," he said.

"O-Okay," she said.

"I think it's pretty obvious I like you. And after I heard what Kouji did, I guess that I wanted to let you know that, even if he didn't care…" He looked down. "I still do." He looked back up at her and fingered a strand of her soft, brown hair. "And maybe… if we spent a little more time together, we could become something more than just friends." He smiled. "I don't want to say now, because we're both pretty busy. Soon, though. If you want."

Keiko felt her face heat up and she nodded. "I'd like that. Th-thanks, Kouichi." She gave him a smile.

"Well, my mom's waiting out front. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Okay," she agreed. "Bye Kouichi."

He kissed her on the cheek and walked out, but not without a wave. Keiko smiled and brushed her fingers over her cheek. She may not have known how soon their future was, but she couldn't wait for it.

**

* * *

**

Yeah, they're not together yet, so it's still a free for all, I suppose. :D Sorry that this chapter was so messy. :P School's tomorrow for me, and I'm kind of stressed and rushy… Well, read and review! Oh, and PurpleViolin, whenever you read this, send me a PM and we can begin to work on your chapter!

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	24. We Are Tigers

_Muse!Keiko_: Well, well, look who's finally updating? *Holds up gun* Take it bitch!

*Dodges bullet* Crap! I'm sorry! Jeez… *Brushes off dirt* Ahem, well, hello everyone. I'm sorry I've been so long updating. You know… I've been pretty busy getting back into the groove of school and tennis. So, I'm sorry that this took so long. Thanks to all of you for being so patient! I love you all! Enjoy the next installment of The Beginning of Forever that was **PurpleViolin's requested **chapter!!!

**

* * *

**

"Are you sleeping?"

Keiko cracked an eye open and looked at Izumi. "No."

"Good!" the blonde chirped happily. "I have somebody to talk to!" She leaned her head against Keiko's shoulder. "I'm just so excited."

Keiko smiled and looked out the window; the bus would be there soon. The seven Digi-Destined along with Michiko and Tamotsu were all going to the fair that was an hour outside of Shibuya. Keiko looked over to her right, where the twins were sitting. Kouji was at the window seat, staring out at the road, while Kouichi was reading a magazine. He saw the brunette looking over and he smiled and waved.

Keiko felt her face go red and she waved back with a shy smile. Kouichi grinned and looked back at his magazine. Izumi raised an eyebrow and lifted her head up. She looked between Kouichi and Keiko and was even more shocked when she saw Kouji stare at his twin and huff before looking back out the window.

Izumi smiled. She would have to do a _little_ research.

**

* * *

**

"We're finally here!" Tomoki exclaimed happily. He looked around excitedly at all the rides. "There's so many things to do! I don't even know where to go first!"

"We should go on a ride where three people can sit together," Michiko suggested. "That way, we'll get to go on our first ride together!"

"Okay," Izumi agreed.

The nine of them all walked around for a few minutes, finally deciding on the Tilt-a-Whirl. Tomoki, Keiko and Takuya all rode together, Izumi, Kouichi and Michiko clambered into a vehicle and lastly Tamotsu, Kouji and Junpei sat in a red car together; Junpei looked extremely uncomfortable sitting between the two glaring teens.

Takuya insisted on shifting the weight all over the place and Tomoki was very enthusiastic about the plan. It wasn't so funny when the car began to spin out of control and the three riders screamed bloody murder.

Izumi squealed happily at every turn and had a few choice words for one of the other riders when he told her to 'shut her fat trap'.

Junpei cleared his throat and tried to have fun, half-heartedly putting his hands in the air. The blonde and the raven haired boy didn't stop glaring at each other and Junpei sighed. Why in the world did those two hate each other?

After the ride, they got onto a Wild West Shootout ride, where they had to sit three to a car and shoot targets as the vehicle moved through a 'saloon'. This time Izumi found herself seated between Keiko and Michiko and the girls screamed when a giant sheriff fell from the ceiling as a target. Junpei managed to get into a car where neither Tamotsu or Kouji were present. He was with Kouichi and Tomoki, and the three had a relatively successful time. Takuya was seated between Tamotsu and Kouji, and the two of them were completely concentrated on beating each other's scores out. Takuya just smiled and did his best, beating them both at the end and boasting with a happy dance.

"I want to play games," Izumi said. "I could go with somebody, maybe, just so you don't all have to come if you don't want to…"

"I'll go!" Takuya exclaimed. "I want to win a prize."

"Me too," Junpei added, moving next to Izumi. "I want to play that fishing game."

"I'd like to go on the bobsled racing ride," Tamotsu said, tilting his head a little bit. "Anybody else want to come?"

"I'll go," Kouichi said with a smile.

"I'd really love to go onto the go-carts," Keiko said.

"I think that sounds fun. I'll go too!" Michiko exclaimed happily, hopping next to her brunette friend.

"I don't particularly care where I go," Kouji muttered, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his expensive looking jeans. "I'll go with Tomoki. It doesn't matter to me."

"Okay! Me and Kouji can go on the pirate ship ride!" Tomoki exclaimed, grabbing the older boy's wrist and dragging him back. "We can meet back here at seven! That way, we'll be able to see the fireworks display!" he called as he left. Kouji gave a wave and they were lost in the crowd.

"Okay, then. Seven, right?" Kouichi asked. "We'll see you in a few hours, then…" Tamotsu nodded and the two headed to the bobsled ride.

The rest divided as well, and went to their own respective rides.

**

* * *

**

"Okay… What first?" Izumi asked, looking around them to decide what game to play. "Ooh! How about this one?" She ran over to a stand where you had to try to hit balloons with darts. "I bet I could beat you both at this one!"

"You're on!" Takuya exclaimed, running over as well with Junpei right at his side.

"That'll be three bucks for five darts," the man at the booth said. "Five bucks for ten."

"I say we only get five," Junpei said, winking. "More of a challenge, right?"

Izumi smiled. "Of course. We'll each have five!"

After the darts were handed out, the three teenagers began to fire them at the balloons. It ended up that Junpei won with his steady hand and his sharp eye. He won a poster of one of the up and coming bands.

"Let's try that fishing game you were talking about, Junpei," Izumi suggested, smiling at the slightly older boy. "It looks pretty cool."

Junpei felt a dusting of pink go over his cheeks. "Okay," he replied. "You know, Izumi… You've changed recently…"

"Eh?" Izumi turned towards him as they headed to the correct booth. "Changed? What do you mean?"

"I don't know," Junpei said, looking down. "I just think that you've been acting a lot nicer to everybody."

"You think so?" the blonde asked.

"Yeah, ever since Kouichi was in his coma," Takuya added to the exchange. "It's a good change."

Izumi smiled and looked at her feet shyly. "Thanks guys…" With a grin she wrapped both of her arms around theirs. "Come on! Let's fish!"

**

* * *

**

After a long wait for the go-carts, Keiko found herself in a green car with a big 9 on the side. She looked over and saw Michiko situating herself in an orange car with a 6 on it. Keiko grinned and waved to the wine haired girl, who waved back.

"It's go time," Keiko muttered as the cars took off. Keiko was an average driver, she was able to get around the turns without incident. Michiko was extremely talented. She was able to make the car fly around curves and stay in the front of the pack. By the time the girls were done, their hair was slightly windblown and they had already wasted an hour and had two left.

"What do you want to do?" Keiko asked as the two of them walked out.

Michiko shrugged. "I don't really care. We could just walk around for a while and see if there's anything we want to get on, or whatever."

Keiko nodded. "Kay."

They walked in a comfortable silence, but Keiko noticed that it looked like Michiko wanted to say something. "Hey, Michiko?"

The girl looked over. "Hmm?"

"Is everything okay? You look like you want to say something…"

Michiko shrugged. "Well, actually I do… What's been going on with you and Kouichi and Kouji?"

"Eh?" Keiko felt her eye twitch. "Well, it's sort of a long story… But… You know how I gave out three of those special admirer cards?" Michiko nodded. "I gave one to Kouji, Kouichi and Tamotsu, and… Well I didn't actually give Kouji one, but he found me trying to throw mine away and he sort of took it away from me and read it. He was all 'I'm sorry I don't return your feelings mother fucker' and I was all, 'Um… Go home?' and then Kouichi found out that the card was from me and he ran to my house and kissed me and then…" She took a breath. "That's where we are now."

Michiko blinked. "Okay."

Keiko nodded. "And that's all you wanted to know, right?"

Michiko shrugged. "Just about." She smiled. "How about we get onto the Scramber?"

Keiko grinned. "Okay!"

**

* * *

**

"Quick question…" Tamotsu said quietly as he and Kouichi headed to their last ride before they had to go meet the others.

"Go ahead," Kouichi replied.

"You're with Keiko, right?"

Kouichi shook his head. "Um… No."

"You sound unsure," Tamotsu said. "How wouldn't you know?"

Kouichi shrugged. "We're… talking. I do like her a lot, but it's just a matter of beginning the dating game."

"Take care of her," Tamotsu said seriously. "I mean it. Don't let your bastard of a brother mess with her again."

"How did you know about that?" Kouichi asked.

"I heard it from Izumi," Tamotsu sighed. "But seriously. Take good care of her."

"You mean… you don't mind?" Kouichi questioned.

Tamotsu shrugged. "I'd rather it be you than Kouji."

Kouichi huffed a laugh. "Heh. Alright, then. You wanna get onto the bumper cars or something?"

Tamotsu smiled. "Sure."

**

* * *

**

"Kouji?" Tomoki asked quietly.

"Hmm?"

"Do you like me more than you used to?"

Kouji turned to the younger boy. "Of course, Tomoki," he replied, giving the boy a smile. "Are you thinking about the Toyland thing?"

Tomoki looked down and nodded. "Yeah. I think we've come a long way, though… Right?"

Kouji smirked. "Yeah. I do."

"I don't really know that much about you, though…" the brunette said quietly.

"Well… What is it you'd like to know?" Kouji asked.

Tomoki looked up at him, eyes bright. He was surprised that Kouji would even say anything more about it. "Uh, well, what do you like to do?"

Kouji shrugged. "I don't really know. I like kendo, and sometimes I enjoy running."

"How about your favorite color?"

Kouji smiled. "Blue."

"I like orange and red!" Tomoki said happily.

"What's your favorite food, Tomoki?" Kouji asked with an amused look on his face.

"Ice cream and hamburgers," the boy said, smiling brightly. What about you?"

"I like curry," he supplied. "I also like lo mein."

"Hey! There's the others!" Tomoki exclaimed, pointing off towards the Wild West Shootout ride. "Come on!" The younger boy grabbed Kouji's wrist and pulled him over towards the others.

"Hey, guys, Junpei has a really great idea," Izumi said with a grin. "If we all went to the Ferris Wheel right now, we'd be just at the top when the fireworks stop, and since they always stop the Ferris Wheel during the fireworks, we'd be just on time!" She took a deep breath. "So…?"

Kouji nodded. "Sounds good."

"Great! Let's go, then!" Takuya exclaimed.

**

* * *

**

"Wow…" Izumi gasped, her hands pressed against the window. "Aren't they beautiful?"

Keiko smiled and nodded at the blonde. Although the grin she plastered on her face was completely fake, due to the fact that she was sitting between Kouji and Tamotsu, her friend smiled back.

Izumi squealed when a purple firework lit up the sky. "My favorite color!"

"I thought it was pink…" Takuya muttered.

"Not this week," Izumi replied absently. "I love purple."

"I hate purple," Kouji said off-handedly.

"You hate everything," Tamotsu mumbled under his breath.

Kouji turned his head. "What did you just say?"

Tamotsu turned and matched his gaze without a flinch. "I said, you hate everything. Might wanna get those ears cleaned out, glorious."

Kouji stood up. "Look, you got a problem?"

"Do you?" Tamotsu asked, standing up as well.

"Guys," Izumi snapped. "Enough. You're so annoying." She sighed. "There's too much testosterone…"

Keiko nodded, shifting when both boys sat back down. She cleared her throat. It was about time she stood up for herself. "Yeah," she began meekly, clearing her throat. "Both of you need to stop." She was annoyed with herself and she sighed. Someday, someday she would go off on them.

**

* * *

**

"Neemon, quiet down, we can't be seen!"

"But this is so boring, Bokomon! Why do Digimon think that the human world is so interesting, when all there is here is - EEP!!!"

"Watch it! You almost got hit by that bus!"

"Sorry! Oww! Don't snap my pants!"

"Shh! Look, there's Takuya! Psst! Takuya! Over here, my boy!"

Takuya froze and turned around. "What?"

Both Digimon jumped out of the bushes and ran to Takuya excitedly. "Takuya!" they shouted in unison, leaping into his arms and causing him to fall on his back.

"Guys! You're here! How'd you get here, anyway? Wait, more importantly, how are you?" he asked in a hurry, hugging the creatures happily to his chest. "I missed you!"

"Wow, Takuya!" Neemon cried. "Your voice has gotten really deep! You're getting a lot older!"

"Are the others around?" Bokomon asked. "We've been sent by Ophanimon to deliver you a message. We have only a short amount of time here to talk to you all."

"You can't stay?" Takuya asked quietly.

Bokomon shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid not. This is important, though. How quickly can they come?"

Takuya looked determined. "Give me ten minutes."

**

* * *

**

After an extremely happy reunion with the seven's Digimon friends, they got down to business.

"How did you guys get here?" Kouji asked, voicing a question that all of them were beginning to wonder.

"Ophanimon sent us here. We… we have some bad news," he said, looking grave. "You guys have met them, the Seven Demon Lords. They've all come to take your spirits and control of the Digital World."

"How did they get here? Heck, how is _Lucemon _still here? We killed him, right?" Keiko asked.

"Yes, you killed him alright. The only problem is that he has… friends."

"Friends? The other six?" Kouichi asked.

Bokomon nodded. "There are six other Demon Lords, Barbamon, Beelzemon, Belphemon, Daemon, Leviamon and Lilithmon. Each stronger in their own ways. One has targeted each of you. They're stronger than anything we've ever seen in the Digital World."

"If," Izumi said softly, "we could only take Lucemon down by joining together as one, how could we take down six more?"

"That's one of the problems," Bokomon said. Suddenly he faded away and reappeared.

"What happened?" Junpei asked urgently. "Why did you just disappear like that?"

"We only have seconds left," Bokomon said quickly. "You mustn't fight them. Let them take the Digital World. Because if you do fight them, then one of you will-"

And just like that, Bokomon and Neemon were gone from their lives once again.

**

* * *

**

Kouichi and Keiko headed down the street together. They didn't speak. They weren't in very high spirits.

"It's kind of impossible, isn't it?" Keiko mumbled. "We can't defeat them."

Kouichi shrugged. "I don't know if we can," he replied.

Keiko nodded. "Me neither."

"We're here," Kouichi stated as he walked Keiko to the front steps of her house. Keiko unlocked the door and opened it, looking back at Kouichi.

"Thank you for walking me home," she said softly. "I think Takuya said something about getting together tomorrow, right?"

Kouichi nodded. "Yeah."

"Well, I'll see you then, I guess," she said and turned to walk into the house.

A gentle hand stopped her from walking back and Keiko found herself chest to chest with Kouichi with their lips pressed together. He didn't pull away immediately, just held her there with as he lightly traced her lips with his tongue.

Keiko shivered and opened her mouth, granting the boy access to the warm orifice. He wrapped his arms around her, sliding his hands to the small of her back and moving them around to hold her hips close to his own.

Keiko wrapped her arms around his neck, the sleeves of her shirt tickling his neck lightly. Kouichi lifted one hand to her cheek and brushed his thumb over it lightly, before pulling away and keeping his hand on her face.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he said, walking down the steps. "Oh, and, uh, wanna be my girlfriend?" he asked.

Keiko stared and her face became hot, she nodded vigorously and Kouichi smiled at her. "Alright, goodbye," he said, waving and heading down the large driveway.

Keiko stepped into the house and just like last time, saw her cat sitting there with an amused look on her face. Well, as amused as a cat could look. And just like last time, Keiko gave her cat a high-five.

**

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**

That chapter was so… _sloppy. _I'm sorry that it sucked so badly, PurpleViolin. D: Please forgive me! I'm sorry to everybody that this chapter was so late, but I promise to deliver a long one in a few days.

By the way, I'm going to let you all know now, that I'm going to up the rating to M, only to be safe because of some of the upcoming chapters deal with alcohol, drugs, sexual situations (not THAT soon), etc, etc. It won't be like, BAD, bad, but it'll be pretty… Bad? Well enough of that…

Thank you all so much for reading, and don't forget to review!


	25. And There's No Other Place I'd Rather Be

**A/N: **An early chapter as an apology for a horrible chapter… My brother's doing handstands in my room? He's six. ^.^' Love that little guy… I feel like I'm losing readers. A ton of you guys don't review anymore, and it makes me feel really skittish about my writing.. D: I'd love to know if there's anyone out there still, even if it would be your last review… Well, enjoy this chapter. Once again, I'm sorry for how horrible the other one was! D:

**Review replies to chapter 24:**

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **You have an amazing use of adjectives… xD I went through and didn't really see any errors… I didn't have a beta though. You love Izumi, you just don't want to admit it. Finally somebody acknowledges Mister Boots! :D Tamotsu would top Kouji. Just saying… But thank you for the review and I hope you like the next chapter!

**PurpleViolin: **You're crazy if you like this chapter. O.O Hehe, I'd love to watch Kouji and Tamotsu fight. They're too cool. xD That's just not a good combination. Yeah, I snuck the pirate ship right in there, hehe (Keiko!muse: She totally did it by accident…) Shut up Keiko muse, or I'll kill your character along with- (KM: Shut up! Don't give it away!) Ahem, sorry. But yeah, we'll see Bokomon and Neemon again, don't you worry. Yep, Kouichi and Keiko are together now. But will it last? I'm so happy you liked the chapter (even if I hated it…) and I hope you like this one just as much!

**Empyrea:** I totally agree with you, this chapter is lacking something that the others have. Don't worry, I'm reverting back to my old methods and this one will probably be a lot better, as well as the next ones. You'll understand the Kouji thing soon enough. I promise. :D Thank you for taking the time to review! I appreciate it a bundle! I hope you like the next chapter.

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"If I had one marshmallow wish…" Keiko said as she pulled her marshmallow out of the fire. "It would be that I have good luck in high school." She popped it into her mouth, closing her eyes at the sweetness. "Mmph," she mumbled around the white ball of sugar. "Marf-mewwows."

Kouichi, who was next to her, sharing a blanket with the brunette, laughed softly, pulling his marshmallow out as well. The two of them, along with the other digi-destined, Tamotsu, Michiko and Asashi were all sitting in Keiko's backyard around a big huge bonfire. It was June, and they were all going into high school in a few short months.

"My marshmallow wish," Kouichi said, "is that all of us stay friends through high school." He ate the marshmallow off the stick, enjoying it, although not as much as Keiko had.

"I want my wish to be that I find a cute boy that likes me!" Izumi exclaimed happily, smiling and eating the marshmallow.

Junpei grinned and pulled his marshmallow out next. He was already in high school, so he decided not to make a school related wish. "I wish that I could fly." And with that, he popped it into his mouth.

"That's a silly wish, Junpei," Izumi said, tilting her head to the side. "People can't fly."

"Duh," Junpei replied. "That's why I'm _wishing _that I could fly. Jeez, you're so naïve."

Izumi shook her head and looked over to Takuya. "Alright, it's your turn."

"My marshmallow wish is that I make the soccer team," the brunette said with a smile, eating the marshmallow. "And that I kick some ass later in the year."

"Good wish," Kouji muttered. "I wish that my teachers aren't nutcases, like Izumi."

Said blonde sputtered indignantly. "I'm not a nutcase!"

Kouji nodded and took off the marshmallow, staring at it and pulling his arm back to throw it away.

"No!" Takuya cried, grabbing the half melted marshmallow. "You know the rules! If you make a marshmallow wish, you need to eat it!" He pushed it into his face. "Go ahead!"

"I don't particularly like sweets," Kouji grumbled.

"Eat it!" Takuya snapped and Kouji sighed and complied.

"Jeez, Kouji. You act like it's torture or something," Kouichi said with a laugh, pulling Keiko a little bit closer to his side, as the air was rapidly cooling.

Kouji smiled and looked over at Asashi, who the blonde was comfortably sitting on. He had offered to 'keep her warm'. Who was she to turn down such a nice offer? "Your turn Asashi."

The brunette smiled and pulled his marshmallow out of the fire. "My marshmallow wish is that I stay safe all year," Asashi said, smiling as he ate the marshmallow.

"Umm…" Michiko pulled her marshmallow out of the fire and tilted her head to the side. "I guess I wish that we all have a fun year," she said.

"Good one," Tomoki said, smiling. He wasn't a kid anymore. He was now eleven, the same age most of the Digi-Destined had been when they went to the Digital World. His voice was deepening and he was starting to grow much taller. "I wish that Middle School is fun for me." He popped the sugary square into his mouth with flavor.

"I guess I'm last," Tamotsu said, pulling his marshmallow out of the fire. "I wish that I don't fall up or down stairs this year. It'd be embarrassing," he said with a shrug, eating the marshmallow off of the stick.

They were all silent for a while, staring into the fire as they all huddled under their blankets. Takuya lazily dropped his head onto Kouji's shoulder, grinning when the slightly older boy raised an eyebrow at him. Nonetheless, though, the raven haired boy pulled the blanket tighter around the two of them.

Tamotsu and Michiko were sharing a blanket, as well. The two of them were close together, trying to keep body heat. Junpei and Tomoki were close together as well, rubbing their arms as the air cooled down.

Asashi wrapped his arms around Izumi's stomach and blew hot air through the back of her shirt in an attempt to keep her warm. Izumi felt her face heat up, but she gripped Asashi's hands in hers, rubbing them to make sure they didn't get too cold.

Keiko was wrapped up in blankets with Kouichi, and the teenager made sure to keep his arm around her so that she didn't freeze. He noticed the goosebumps all over her arms, and kissed her neck, trying to warm her up. If anything, more goosebumps appeared to the brunette's embarrassment. Kouichi thought it was extremely adorable.

"Can we go inside now, guys?" Izumi asked. "I'm extremely tempted to just stay and sit on Ashi's lap, but I'm about to freeze my buns off…"

"Ashi?" Michiko asked.

Izumi nodded, looking back at the brunette she was currently on top of. "Nickname."

Tamotsu laughed. "That's pretty epic."

"Your mom's pretty epic," Asashi muttered, standing up and lifting the blonde up with him. "Well, if you're so tempted, Izu, I'll just carry you back." He made sure the blankets were tucked over her and began to walk to the mansion, whose lights were shining at the top of the hill and past the small wooded area.

Keiko stood up as well, grabbing the bucket and dumping it's contents, water, on top of the blazing inferno. The fire dimmed down until there were small embers on the logs and twigs.

With a proud smile, Keiko walked back over to Kouichi, who slung the blanket back over her shoulder and led her back up the hill with the rest.

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"I swear my toes are going to explode," Keiko said as she sat with Izumi in the large bathtub in the bathroom connected to the brunette's room. The two were in their bathing suits. Izumi was spending the night, and the two of them decided to try and warm up with the powerful jets in Keiko's Jacuzzi tub.

"Mine aren't," Izumi said, grinning cheekily. "I had Asashi to keep me warm."

"Yeah?" Keiko replied, shifting slightly. "Well, Kouichi's arm is only so big."

Izumi laughed. "I think it's sweet. You two totally seem right for each other."

Keiko nodded. "Uh-huh… I just don't want to mess up our friendship if we ever break up."

"I doubt you will," Izumi said, stretching. "You're both pretty chill."

"Enough about me," Keiko muttered. "What about you and Asashi? He seems like he really likes you."

Izumi smiled, sinking lower into the water. "We're… I don't know. We're in the game process, right now. But I think something may happen."

"Has he kissed you yet?" Keiko pressed, her ears perking up.

Izumi grinned. "Actually…"

"What?" Keiko cried. "And you didn't tell meeeee?"

"Sorry, but you never asked!" Izumi said, laughing lightly.

"Not funny. Well, come on, let's hear it!"

"Fine," Izumi sighed. "A few weeks ago, during that big rainstorm…"

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_Izumi looked up at the sky miserably as she sat under a big tree with Asashi, who was just getting off the phone with his mother. "It just had to rain, didn't it?" Izumi asked with a sigh._

_Asashi shrugged. "Oh well. It happens, I guess. It'll stop."_

"_Yeah…" Izumi muttered. She looked over to the brunette boy and tilted her head cutely. "What time did your mom say she was coming?"_

"_She'll be here in ten minutes. We live a little farther away." He smiled. "When we get home, I'll make sure that you get some warm clothes. My sister wouldn't mind."_

"_Sister?" Izumi echoed. "You have a sister?"_

_Asashi nodded. "Yeah. She's a year older. She's okay. She manages to get on my nerves sometimes, though." He shrugged. "It's whatever. Nobody's perfect, right?"_

_Izumi smiled. "Right… You're too cool, Asashi?"_

"_Huh?" The brunette looked at her. "What do you mean, 'cool'?"_

_Izumi giggled and looked up to the sky, which was darkening. "I admire you. You're so laid back and cool, but you're sweet and understanding at the same time."_

_Asashi smiled. "You're funny, Izumi." He looked at the ground, blinking. "I guess that's just how I am, you know?"_

_Izumi smiled back at him. "I'm uptight a lot. I wish I could be more like you."_

"_I don't," he said. "You're perfect just the way you are."_

_Izumi looked over at him, her eyes slightly widened. Asashi put a hand to her cheek and moved over, pressing his lips to hers. It was gentle, yet passionate. Izumi wanted to melt._

_Asashi pulled away and smiled at her, laughing softly. "You okay, Izumi? You look a little… flushed."_

_Izumi's mouth twitched and the fire spreading through her face ignited again. "I'm good. That was, um…" She laughed awkwardly. "Sorry. I'm a little nervous right now."_

_He laughed and pet her hair softly. "It's alright," he said almost soothingly. Somehow it made Izumi feel better and less like she was choking. She leaned into the touch and they smiled at each other._

_Headlights shone on them and Asashi laughed. "My mom. You ready?" Izumi nodded, grinning as he took her hand and helped her up._

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Keiko was smiling slyly at Izumi, who was staring back with a red face. "What?" the blonde asked. She got annoyed when Keiko just kept staring, her lips quirked. "What?" she cried, splashing her friend in the face with water.

Keiko wiped the water out of her eyes and shrugged. "Just wanted to get on your nerves," she replied, laughing. "I think that it's really sweet, Izumi. He's not a lot like you in personality, but the two of you just work."

Izumi flushed and lowered herself into the water. "I guess…"

Keiko sighed and grinned. "I love you, Izumi," she giggled.

**

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"Math is not boring, because…" Takuya said, gesturing for Kouji to continue.

"No, math's really boring. I hate it. I'm just really good at it," Kouji replied.

Takuya rolled his eyes. "You know, you and Keiko are the only freshman getting into eleventh grade math."

"Eh, I didn't really think about that," Kouji muttered, picking at his fries. "It's not like it's easy though. I barely got 80s all last year. Keiko's just really good at math."

"She got a 98 on the final," Takuya said grudgingly.

Kouji nodded. "I know."

Takuya sighed and laid his head down on the table. "You know, we only have another month until school. Then the torture starts. God, I hate school."

"Doesn't bother me that much, I guess," Kouji said softly. "But what does bother me is - AH!!!"

Kouji gripped his head, falling to the floor. Flashes of white and black and small fragments of figures fighting danced in his head. It was excruciating, the strain on his brain, he felt like he was going to be sick. Kouji dropped off of the barstool and hit his kitchen floor, twitching and whimpering.

"Kouji!" Takuya yelled, dropping to the floor. Kouji's German Shepherd, Kiba (xD), skidded into the room running to his master and whimpering. Takuya managed to pull the thrashing boy into his arms, trying his best to comfort him through something he had no idea about.

Kouji wailed and shut his eyes tightly, clenching his white teeth and clutching his long sable hair. "Stop!" he screamed.

"Kouji!" Takuya cried, holding on tighter to his shirt. "Kouichi! Help me! Hurry!" he yelled loudly, hoping more than anything that Kouji's older twin would be able to do something.

Kouichi, along with Keiko and Izumi, who Takuya had forgotten were in the other room, ran into the kitchen. Kouichi gawked at his screaming brother and skidded over to his twin, getting onto his knees and clutching his hand.

Kouji was still curled up in Takuya's arms, writhing in pain and screaming as flashes went through his head. Suddenly, he seized up and went limp, completely unmoving in his best friend's grip.

"What happened to him?" Izumi whimpered.

Footsteps came from down the hall and two tall figures walked in. One of them was in a large cape and he smiled deviously at the other, who was a beautiful female in a long black dress, although she had one decaying arm sticking out.

"Wonderful job, Lilithmon," the male said, grinning.

Izumi stood in front of Kouji defiantly. "What did you do to him?" she demanded.

"Simply messed with his mind," the male said. He tilted his head to the side. "Such children, you must remember Lilithmon and myself, Barbamon. Rivals of Love and Wind?"

Both girls glared and Keiko stood up as well, right next to Izumi. "Get out of here, now," she said venomously.

"So rude," Lilithmon replied, lifting a hand, nails growing longer and sharper within seconds. They were at least two feet long on each finger.

"I'll be going," Barbamon said. "Just like we agreed on. Since Beelzemon can't handle them, we'll see if you can. No mercy." And with that, he walked through a dark portal.

"We'll take care of this," Izumi said, looking back to the boys. "You two get Kouji to safety."

The boys nodded and Takuya threw his arm over his shoulder, Kouichi getting onto the other side and holding him up. "Will you two be okay?" Takuya asked, looking between the girls.

Keiko nodded. "We'll be fine."

"More than fine," Izumi said. "We'll take care of this piece of garbage easy."

Lilithmon laughed. "Don't underestimate me, Wind."

"Too late," Izumi snapped. "I already did."

Kouichi and Takuya carried the unconscious Kouji into a different room and up the stairs.

"I've beaten the two of you as a team before," Lilithmon said. "I'll do it again."

"We've never even fought you!" Keiko exclaimed.

"Not in this life," Lilithmon replied. "Humph, looks like you don't know anything, after all." She lifted her hand in the air and light gleamed off of it. "I guess I'll just have to educate you!"

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I'm trying to make the chapters as good as they were before. It's not all about the romance my friends, and trust me, just because some people are dating, it doesn't mean this thing is over. Heck, it's _far _from over. Read and review, please! PS! READ LAST CHAPTER'S ENDING NOTES! IMPORTANT MESSAGE!!!


	26. Tell Them My Story

**Here's another chapter kiddies! Enjoy it!**

**Review replies for chapter 25 (Waah, you all dieddd!):**

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **I'm so glad you liked the chapter. :D Ahaha, I got you into the gays, son! I'm so proud! I can't help feeling skittish, my friendly friend, it's just what I do… Well, thank you so much for actually reviewing, and I hope you like this chapter! :D

**Empyrea: **Yay! Improvement! *Dances* I'm the master of deception! Muahaha! (Muse!Keiko: No you're _not._) I'm glad you like the chapter and I hope you like this one just as much as the other one! Or even more! Thanks again! :D

**PurpleViolin: **I love your reviews, they're so long! :D Yeah, I get what you mean, I HATE school. Heck, only a couple more years though! Yes, yes, Asashi and Izumi are ON! :D Bamfness initiated! Woohoo!!! I want a marshmallow wish too… I'd make my wish that I had a Tamotsu to cuddle with. xD I love messing with Kouji, he's such a brat. :D I'm so glad that you liked this chapter and thank you a bunch for taking the time to review! :D

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"_I've beaten the two of you as a team before," Lilithmon said. "I'll do it again."_

"_We've never even fought you!" Keiko exclaimed._

"_Not in this life," Lilithmon replied. "Humph, looks like you don't know anything, after all." She lifted her hand in the air and light gleamed off of it. "I guess I'll just have to educate you!"_

Izumi and Keiko both dove out of the way when Lilithmon launched herself at the two of them.

"Let's go outside Izumi!" Keiko cried. "We can't mess up the house like this!"

Izumi nodded and the two of them dashed out of the house and down the street, where it was barren of cars. Lilithmon crashed into the street behind them and grabbed Izumi around the neck, knocking her into the ground. She began choking the air out of her, grinning the whole time.

"Love shot!"

Izumi took a deep breath for air once Lilithmon rolled off of her. She turned her head and smiled weakly when she saw Lilithmon attempting to dislodge an arrow from her arm.

"Transform, Zumi!" Veenomon cried as Lilithmon pulled the glowing weapon out of her.

"Wind Evolution!"

In a flash of data, the blonde changed her form into that of Kazemon and she was side-by-side with Veenomon, ready to fight.

Lilithmon grinned and sped over to the pair, the other two doing the same.

"Tempest twist!"

Kazemon began kicking rapidly and Lilithmon, who simply ducked out of the way, clawing Kazemon. Veenomon ran at her, attempting to hit her with her elbow, but once again, Lilithmon jumped out of the way.

"And to think that I actually struggled all those years ago," Lilithmon sighed. "I don't want to play with you two anymore…" She tilted her head to the side. "But here's something to keep you busy." She pointed a finger towards Kazemon and a black beam flew forward and smashed her in the head.

Kazemon immediately turned into Izumi and the blonde cried out and gripped her head as flashes of light and strange images danced in her vision.

Keiko stared with wide eyes as Izumi crumpled to the ground, twitching, just as Kouji had minutes before.

"Stop! What are you doing? You did this to Kouji before, too!" Keiko yelled, dropping to her knees and grabbing at the blonde.

"Light just annoys me," Lilithmon muttered. "But I'm pretty sure that Wind deserves it. I'll see you around." And with that, she was gone.

Izumi was still screaming in pain when the evil Digimon disappeared, and Keiko was doing her best to try and figure out what was wrong. "Izumi? Are you okay? What's the matter?"

Izumi groaned loudly as her eyes glazed over and she twitched. "Please stop them!"

"Who? Izumi? Please, just tell me what I can do to help!" Keiko cried.

"Make them stop!" Izumi wailed, twitching more and more.

"Make who stop?" Keiko asked desperately.

"They won't stop _**screaming!**_" Izumi yelled before she seized up again and lost consciousness.

Keiko gawked for a moment, eyes bright with terror as she stared at the distressed face of her friend. What Izumi had said… Who had been screaming?

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Keiko stared silently at the bodies of her friends as they lay side-by-side on Kouji's bed. "Izumi said that somebody wouldn't stop screaming," she mumbled.

Kouichi, who was sitting next to the brunette girl, looked over to her, noting that her eyes weren't as bright as they normally were. They were more dull than ever.

He put a hand on her cheek and pulled her into a kiss, which she returned without a second thought. When he pulled away, he noticed the sad look on her face. "It'll be alright."

Keiko nodded. "I hope so." She ran her hands through her hair and sighed softly. "Hey, Kouichi?"

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

Keiko was about to say what she had to say, but Takuya walked in, ruffling his hair. "Hey," he said, sitting on the other side of Keiko. "Any changes?"

Keiko shook her head and looked back over towards the two of them. "No. They won't even move. They're barely breathing."

"We should bring them to the hospital," Takuya declared.

"What'll we say?" Kouichi asked. "That they got attacked by Lilithmon, the evil Digimon?" He shook his head. "Unlike last time, we can't just say that they fell from a tree and hit their heads."

Takuya sighed. "But what if this is something that won't get fixed?"

Kouichi's whole body seized up and he looked down at his twin, the one he had searched for for months and months. He raised a shaky limb and touched the soft, ivory skin on his face. "I…" He suddenly froze and cupped a hand over his mouth.

"Kouichi?" Keiko asked softly, resting a hand on his shoulder.

The older twin suddenly ripped himself away from Keiko and off the bed. He bounded into the bathroom and slammed the door behind him, retching sounds following soon after.

Keiko and Takuya stared at each other, wide-eyed. They both walked over to the bathroom door and tried to open it, finding it locked.

"Kouichi?" Keiko called softly. "Are you okay?"

"Y-yeah," came the shaky reply. The door opened and Kouichi stepped out slowly, his feet slightly wobbly.

"What happened?" Takuya asked.

Kouichi shook his head and took a deep breath. "I just…" He cleared his throat. "I never realized how much I love my brother. If he's gone…"

Keiko shook her head. "They'll be alright. They have to be."

Kouichi nodded and stared down at the floor, sniffling and wiping his nose with the sleeve of his shirt.

Takuya looked uncomfortable as he realized that Kouichi was close to crying. "I'll be in the bedroom."

Keiko just stared with a sad look on her face. She cleared her throat and Kouichi looked up with aching blue eyes. The brunette opened her arms and Kouichi didn't hesitate in walking into them, allowing himself to be comforted just one time.

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When Kouichi woke up, it was because of a strange feeling he had. He opened his eyes and looked around, noticing that Takuya, who was laying down on his right was sitting up, and Keiko, who was on his left was rubbing her eyes and looking around.

"Did you guys get a weird feeling just now?" Kouichi whispered.

Keiko nodded. "I think that… they're here."

"I think you're right," Takuya replied, standing up and turning on the light switch.

There, standing all together were the Seven Warriors that the seven digi-destined had taken control of. Agunimon, naturally in the middle, spoke first. "We have a problem." He looked over at Kouji and Izumi, who hadn't changed at all. "A big problem."

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"So… you're saying that the only way to save them, or even all of us for that matter, is to merge our bodies with your spirits?" Takuya asked.

"I don't understand this…" Keiko muttered, running her hands over her face. "Please explain again, Agunimon. In a more simple way."

"I'll explain," Kazemon said, before Agunimon could speak. "So, when you first got us in the real world, you obviously noticed that you had tattoos imprinted somewhere on your bodies, right?" Nods from the three. "Well, those tattoos held our spirits completely, even when you evolved into our spirits. You all know that you control us when you change into us, but you have to realize that you're using our bodies, and that we're in a lot of control. You also have to figure out that you're working with bodies that get older as time goes on, and bodies that have never been able to beat the Seven Great Demon Lords."

Keiko tilted her head. "But, what are you saying?"

Kazemon smiled weakly. "I'm saying, that from now on, when you guys spirit evolve, beast spirit evolve, or even fusion evolve, you'll be a hybrid between the two of us."

"Huh?" Takuya was at a loss.

Veenomon spoke up. "You will mostly look like yourselves when you evolve, with characteristics of us all. We think that this may be a stronger blend, because you all have taken some of our power anyways, but probably don't realize it."

"I remember!" Takuya exclaimed. "When we had that big fight at Keiko's house that one night, I shot Beelzemon down with fire without even being you, Agunimon!"

Veenomon nodded. "And that's why we think we can defeat them like this. We figure that with you all in complete control of our powers, you'll find that there's even more that you can do."

Kouichi nodded. "I understand… But what about those two?" He gestured to his brother and Izumi. "How will this even help them?"

"We can try to wake them with the powers of Wind and Light, or they may just wake up on their own. If that doesn't work, then Kazemon and Lobomon will just have to merge with them and wake them from the inside," Kumamon explained.

"When do you want to do this? This merge thing?" Takuya asked.

Agunimon grabbed Takuya's hand and pulled him up. "As soon as possible. Come, the two of us will find Junpei and Tomoki and we will all meet back in a certain spot."

"We'll meet at the park. Nobody'll be there this late," Takuya said as he climbed onto Agunimon's back. The Digimon jumped out the window and across rooftops in order to find Junpei and Tomoki, with Kumamon and Beetlemon on their trail.

Kazemon looked around at the other children. "Well, I guess that's our cue," she said, moving to the bed to pull Izumi onto her back.

Lobomon nodded and walked over to Kouji, grabbing his slim body into his arms and jumping out the window with the boy to his chest. Kazemon followed soon after.

Lowemon knelt down and grabbed Kouichi around the waist, lifting him off the ground and jumping out the window.

Keiko looked up at Veenomon and the Digimon smiled at her before she lifted her onto her back and flew into the sky with the girl.

**

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**

"I never realized how far the park is from your house, Kouichi," Keiko said, shifting slightly. They were still heading towards the park after fifteen minutes. Kazemon and Veenomon were flying, while Lobomon and Lowemon were jumping from rooftop to rooftop.

"Me neither," Kouichi replied. "Well, we've never walked from my house to the park, or vice-versa, though."

Keiko nodded. "Well, it'll only be a few more minutes. At least nothing bad is happening," she said, smiling.

Just as those words left her lips, Kazemon cried out and fell several feet.

"Kazemon!" Veenomon yelled. She dove down, Keiko still holding on tightly and grabbed both Kazemon and Izumi. "Are you okay?"

Kazemon nodded, looking up and gaping. There, flying through the sky was a huge demonic looking creature with blood red eyes. "B-Belphemon!"

Lobomon and Lowemon had both stopped on a rooftop and turned around, seeing the terror that was flying towards them. "Come on!" Lowemon yelled. "We need to get to the park and merge as fast as we can!"

Lobomon nodded and began leaping across rooftops even faster, Lowemon only steps behind him. Kazemon and Veenomon began to fly even faster, flapping their wings at quicker paces than before.

"Gift of Darkness!"

A huge beam went right between Kazemon and Lowemon, barely missing the Warriors. "Let's split up!" Lobomon yelled. "Now!"

Lobomon jumped off the roof, getting into the road and running through the streets. Belphemon wasn't even following him. He stopped and looked behind him to see that Kouji was shifting. "Way to go, kid," Lobomon muttered. "You can wake up. I know you can."

Lowemon did a more risky move than Lobomon and he jumped high into the air, Belphemon flying right below him and towards the girls. Kouichi was wide eyed and his mouth was gaping. "That was way too close."

Lowemon nodded in agreement. "Don't have to tell me twice," he replied.

Kazemon looked over to the Warrior of Love. "You go right, I'll go left!" she yelled.

Veenomon nodded and the two swerved off to the sides. Belphemon just flew right past them, not even paying them a second glance.

The two stopped on top of a rooftop, raising their eyebrows. Soon, they were joined by Lobomon and Lowemon, who were just as puzzled.

"He didn't even try to attack us," Kouichi said quietly. "If he's not after us, he must be after…" The older twin gestured for the others to try to finish his thought.

"Belphemon is the sworn enemy of Beetlemon," Lobomon said.

"He's after him, as well as Junpei," Veenomon added, looking over to Keiko. "Do you have any way to communicate with him, Takuya or Tomoki?" she asked.

"I have my phone," Keiko said, pulling the device out of her pocket and dialing Takuya's number.

"_Hello?_"

"Takuya? It's Keiko, you guys need to-"

"_Gotcha! You've reached Takuya's answering machine, so leave a message and I'll call you back!"_

Keiko growled and slammed her phone shut. "Stupid idiot," she muttered. She dialed Junpei's number next, sighing unhappily when it went straight to voicemail. "Nothing," Keiko sighed. "What do we do?"

"We need to get to the park," Lowemon said. "We can't let this slow us down. We can merge there."

With nods from everyone, besides the still unconscious Kouji and Izumi, they were off.

**

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**

"Okay, then," Junpei said, pulling on his shoes as Tomoki, Takuya, Kumamon, Agunimon and Beetlemon stood in his bedroom. "Let's go."

Agunimon pulled Takuya back onto his back and leapt out the window. Tomoki tilted his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "Uh, how exactly are we going to do this?"

Kumamon pushed Tomoki onto his hands and knees, then he wrapped an arm around his waist, lifting him with ease and jumping onto the windowsill. "Like this," the bear said.

Tomoki felt extremely indignant for a moment as he hung there, his little rump on view for Junpei and Beetlemon. "Okay! Okay! I get it!" Kumamon jumped out of the window as Junpei laughed.

Beetlemon lifted Junpei onto his back and hopped out the window with the other two. "How far is the park from here?" he asked.

"Only a block away. It shouldn't take any time at all," Junpei said, holding on tightly to Beetlemon as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop.

**

* * *

**

Kouji's eyelids fluttered before opening all the way. He looked around blearily, realizing he was being held by somebody. For some reason, that somebody was jumping across rooftops. "Holy-!"

"Quiet, you'll wake other people up," the person carrying him said, and Kouji looked up with wide eyes.

"Lobomon?"

Suddenly they dropped off of a rooftop and he was in a grassy area, benches and trees abundant. "Lobomon? What's going on?"

Kazemon landed next to them, hanging onto Izumi, who had gained consciousness and looked just as shocked as he was.

Veenomon and Lowemon were there too, holding onto both Keiko and Kouichi, who looked completely calm.

"Guys? Can you explain what's going on?" Kouji asked shakily. "What happened to Lilithmon and why are we in the park in the middle of the night?"

Three thuds, and Agunimon, Beetlemon and Kumamon walked up, all with their respective humans. "I guess we've got some explaining to do," Beetlemon said.

**

* * *

"You're serious?" Izumi asked a couple of minutes later. "And… this will make us stronger?"**

Kazemon nodded. "Right."

"I don't know about this," Kouji said. "How will we know how to control our spirits? Don't you think we should have some sort of practice?"

"Sure," Veenomon said, pointing into the distance. "And that practice will be here in T-minus seventy-three seconds."

"What?" Takuya cried. "What do you mean practice?"

"Practice in the form of Belphemon," Agunimon said pleasantly.

"You can't be serious," Kouji said.

"Does it look like we're kidding?" Lobomon asked dryly. "Let's merge, now."

"We'll go first!" Takuya exclaimed. "Since we're the leaders!"

Agunimon shrugged. "Okay." He walked over to Takuya and instead of stopping in front of him, he walked right into him. Takuya didn't even fall though, instead, Agunimon just went into him, absorbed by the brunette.

"Well, what do I do now?" Takuya asked, looking at himself in puzzlement. He hadn't changed one bit.

"Spirit evolve," Kazemon said. She walked over to Izumi. "And do it fast, there isn't much time." The Warrior of Wind did the same thing that Agunimon did to Takuya, and soon everybody was merging with their spirits.

"Fire Evolution!" Takuya was engulfed with flames as soon as the words left his lips. The fire danced around him and as it disappeared, everybody was shocked. Takuya looked… amazing. His eyes were the brilliant blue that Agunimon's had been and his brown hair changed into a sandy-blonde color, only a shade lighter than Agunimon's. He had red armor on his chest and on his elbows to his hands. The uniform was basically the same as it had been before, except Takuya looked even more beautiful than Agunimon was.

"Light Evolution!" Kouji, in a flash of light, changed forms as well. He now had blood red eyes and white gloves made of armor. The armor on his chest began at his shoulders and made it to his waist, where there was then the armor for his legs. His hair changed into a light brown, and he looked absolutely perfect in every way.

"Dark Evolution!" Kouichi was surrounded by darkness, and when it cleared, he stood in black armor, very much the same as Lowemon's. He had the long staff that his Digimon predecessor had and his hair lightened up to the same shade as Kouichi's. His eyes changed into the same red that Lowemon's eyes were, and although strange, he looked just as beautiful as Takuya and his brother.

"Love Evolution!" Keiko's body changed form in a flash of golden light. She wore a roman dress that reached her upper thighs with gold on the edges and she boots up to her knees. Small gold wings arched off of her back, only about a foot long on each wing. On her back sat a gold carrier for arrows. Her hair changed into a golden blonde color and had grown an inch or so. Perhaps the most brilliant thing on Keiko's new body were the bright green eyes that were the color of limes.

"Wind Evolution!" Izumi's clothes changed with the whipping of wind, and she had a brand new look. Her hair turned into the strange lavender that Kazemon's had been. She wore the same seductive outfit the original Warrior of Wind had worn, purple bikini bottoms, a purple midriff top and long purple boots with green accents. She had on the light lavender gloves as well, although they reached the middle of her upper arms. Instead of an eye mask, Izumi had her whole face showing. Bright blue eyes stood out from all of the lavender she was wearing and butterfly wings, though not as large were on her back. She looked extraordinary.

"Thunder Evolution!" Junpei was engulfed by sparks of electricity and his entire appearance was morphed with Beetlemon's. The armor had stayed relatively the same, although some parts hugged his body more attractively. It wasn't nearly as bulky, either. It seemed to have taken on a more slim and trim look, just as Junpei had after losing all of the weight. His hair remained the same, maybe a bit darker, and his eyes went from chocolate brown to forest green.

"Ice Evolution!" And finally Tomoki changed forms in a blizzard of ice. He wore a white, furry headband around his forehead and his hair turned into the color of snow. He had on furry bear gloves and long furry boots to his calves. He wore a green shirt to his shoulders and green shorts that stopped at his knees. Strangely enough, he had furry little ears and a little tail as well.

The first person to react somehow was Izumi and the blonde (now lavenderette) she blinked twice. "We…" she began shakily. "Are so hot."

Nobody even had a chance to reply, due to the ear shattering roar above them. Belphemon was heading straight for them.

"I'll fly to him and hit him in the head!" Izumi exclaimed enthusiastically, her wings spreading slightly. She jumped into the air and flapped her wings hard, attempting to fly into the air. What had been easy as Kazemon was harder than ever, now.

She managed to get about ten feet into the air before she dropped back down onto her back. "Okay, maybe not…"

"I'll get him!" Keiko yelled as he neared. "Love Shot!" She made a motion with her hands and nothing happened. "Huh? Love Shot!" Once again, there was nothing. "Love Shot, Love Shot, Love Shot, Love-"

Belphemon swooped down and the girl shrieked, hitting the ground as he landed right next to her and held up an arm to hit her.

"Lobo Kendo!"

Kouji seemed to be having more luck, at least he could get his powers to work. He stabbed Belphemon in the shoulder with his light sword, _**hard. **_

"Shadow Meteor!"

Kouichi made a ball of darkness appear in his hands, and although small, it was better than nothing. He launched it at the Demon Lord and made him flinch a little bit.

"My turn!" Takuya yelled, winding his arm up. "Pyro Punch!" He jumped through the air and punched Belphemon in the eye.

The evil Digimon didn't seem affected at all, just extremely pissed off. He roared and Takuya flew off of his head, hitting the ground with a thud.

"Lightning Blitz!"

"Blizzard Blaster!"

Two very weak attacks hit Belphemon at once and he looked directly at Junpei, annoyance apparent in his eyes. "Lampranthus!"

The chains around Belphemon's arms began glowing brightly, turning into a sinister red and black. One of the chains whipped into Kouji, causing him to cry out in pain and hit the ground. Another hit both Kouichi and Izumi, knocking the two into a tree one after the other.

"Love Shot!"

This time, Keiko's attack worked, and an arrow went directly into Belphemon's eye. The Digimon screamed in pain and whipped a chain into Keiko, causing her to fall into the ground several feet away.

Takuya looked over to Junpei and Tomoki, waving them over. "Come on!" The three ran over and Takuya grabbed onto the arrow that was still lodged in Belphemon's eye. He closed his eyes and managed to concentrate a large amount of energy into his hands, lighting the arrow on fire and burning Belphemon in the eye.

More screams of pain and rage, and Tomoki and Junpei followed his lead. The younger one fired icicles into his other eye, while Junpei hit both the arrow and the shards of ice with thunder, breaking Belphemon's resolve and causing him to retreat in a cloud of black smoke.

* * *

"This is going to be harder than we thought," Takuya said softly.

"And painful," Izumi added, rubbing her head. "I thought we'd be stronger, like they said."

Kouji shook his head. "It took a while to be able to control our spirits even when they had a lot of control, who knows how hard it'll be, now."

Keiko sighed. "You're right. It'll take a lot of time."

There was silence for a while and finally Keiko stood up. "I'd better get going now, I was supposed to be home at midnight, and it's two in the morning, now…"

"I should go to," Izumi added, standing and stretching. "My parents are probably worried sick."

"I'll walk you home, Izumi," Junpei said. "I already have to bring Tomoki home, anyway."

"Thanks, Junpei," Izumi said with a smile.

He nodded. "No problem."

Kouichi stood up as well. "I'll bring you home, Keiko."

"It's alright," the brunette said. "I'm probably just gonna take the train home. It's no biggie."

"Ah, alright. I'll walk you to the door, at least…" he said quietly.

Keiko nodded. "Okay…"

**

* * *

**

"_I love you, Izumi."_

"_I love you too, Asashi!"_

"_Marry me!"_

"_Okay! I'd marry you any day!"_

Izumi was woken up from her lovely dream by the sound of whimpering and scratching on her bedroom door. "Huh?" she muttered tiredly, stumbling out of bed and to the door. She pulled it open and was shocked when a small creature jumped into her chest.

"Patamon?!?" Izumi whisper-yelled.

"Papa-mom and Neemon," he sobbed.

"Patamon? What's the matter?" she asked softly.

"Papa-mom and Neemon are _dead, _Izumi! They're _dead!_" he sobbed softly.

Izumi felt all the blood in her face drain. Dead? Bokomon and Neemon?

**

* * *

**

Ahaha, PLEASE don't kill me? *Looks out window to see a rabid my-little-star once again* Oh… Crap…

Okayyy, so Sydney actually asked a pretty interesting thing. She was like, 'what if the characters all had myspaces? who would be on their tops?' and I was all, 'hmmm…'. So, I decided to kind of make a list of who would be on who's top.

Ohohoho, what marvelous things I do.

Tomoki:

1. Katsuharu  
2. Teppei  
3. Junpei  
4. Teruo  
5. Takuya  
6. Izumi  
7. Keiko  
8. Kouichi  
9. Kouji

Junpei:

1. Tomoki  
2. Izumi  
3. Ami  
4. Kouichi  
5. Keiko  
6. Takuya  
7. Kouji  
8. Tamotsu

Kouichi:

1. Kouji  
2. Keiko  
3. Izumi  
4. Tomoki  
5. Michiko  
6. Takuya  
7. Junpei  
8. Tamotsu

Izumi:

1. Keiko  
2. Kouichi  
3. Junpei  
4. Asashi  
5. Kouji  
6. Michiko  
7. Takuya  
8. Tamotsu  
9. Tomoki

Keiko:

1. Izumi  
2. Kouichi  
3. Takuya  
4. Michiko  
5. Tamotsu  
6. Kouji  
7. Junpei  
8. Tomoki  
9. Asashi

Kouji:

1. Kouichi  
2. Takuya  
3. Izumi  
4. Michiko  
5. Tomoki  
6. Keiko  
7. Junpei  
8. Kimiko  
9. Hitomi  
10. Risako  
11. Naomi  
12. Yumi  
13. Katsumi  
14. Utada  
15. Matsada

Takuya:

1. Kouji  
2. Keiko  
3. Tamotsu  
4. Kouichi  
5. Izumi  
6. Michiko  
7. Tomoki  
8. Junpei  
9. Asashi

Yeah, so they don't all hold the same places in each other's hearts. Like, somebody's number one may not be somebody else's number one… Well, read and please review!


	27. Uneasy Hearts Weigh the Most

**Review replies for chapter 26 (They're coming back, cha-cha-cha!):**

**My-Little-Star: **I'm sorry you were sick! *Massages shoulders* I'm so glad you liked the merging idea, too! :D Hehe, I'm sure Keiko was pretty PO'd about that. ^.^ (Keiko: You'd better believe I was…) Hehe, you're so set on getting Keiko and Kouji together, huh? AHH! I killed them? Huh… Oh yeah… I guess I did… Ahem… NO I LEFT THE DOOR OPEN?!? I'm so smart! :D Well, thanks so much for the review! :D

**Jennison Silvereye: **New reviewer! *Dances* I'm glad you like the story so much! Keiko likes you too! (Keiko: I do! :D) Don't worry, I'm trying to get back into the realm of the first chapters. And you'll be seeing the spirits as well, so don't you worry! :D I'm so glad you reviewed, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **Ohohoho, you were there, weren't you? :D Yes, yes, themes will be back. (Keiko: I hate you.) *Gawks* Well… Thanks so much for reviewing and I'm glad you liked the chapter! I hope you like this one too!

**Empyrea: **Cookies?!? Yay! :D I'm hoping that the chapters will be more with the original theme, you know? I'm so, so, so happy that you liked the chapter and I hope you enjoy this one was well. Thanks so much for the review! :D

**PurpleViolin: **Don't hurt meeee! *Runs away and hides behind Keiko* Please explain, Keiko… Keiko: *Sighs* Well, KeikoTakishita, who stole my name is a little bit terrified right now, so I'm going to be replying to this review for her. I'm totally sad for Patamon, too, but I promise you that this will all be okay! Yup, that's Izumi for you, she's such a card.. Hehe… We should've taken pictures, huh? That sounds like a good idea… Humm… Yeah, Natalie's pretty good at making the reviewers awestruck, even though she tortures us all. *Looks behind and huffs* I think she'd want to say that she thanks you a lot for the review and that she's hoping that you like this chapter too!

**

* * *

**

Izumi felt her heart sink to her stomach, and felt as if she would be sick. "Patamon? W-What did you just say?"

The small orange creature just kept sobbing, keeping it's face buried in Izumi's chest. "And it's your fault!" he cried. "You weren't there for us! You all went away and left us! You let them die!" he screeched, looking up at the girl with reddening eyes. "You let them die!" Patamon's voice was suddenly demonic. "You let them die! Murderer!"

Izumi launched herself into a sitting position in her bed, panting hard and sweating profusely. She looked around her room, slowly coming to terms that everything that just happened had been a dream. "Oh God," she whispered, putting a hand to her forehead.

With a gasp, she jumped out of bed and ran to the bathroom down the hall. The blonde skidded to the toilet ad emptied the contents of her stomach into it with horrific sounding heaves. After regaining herself, she stumbled to the sink and splashed water on her face. Looking up to the mirror above the sink, she stared at her reflection for a long time.

Her face was slightly tanned, although her cheeks were flushed pink. Her green eyes were bloodshot and they looked bright with unshed tears. Izumi's blonde hair was in a messy braid, it was growing out again and moving past her shoulders.

There, standing in front of her, was a changed person. Izumi was no longer the girl who didn't make friends, and was known as a rude person in her school; now she was the friendly, funny one. People in school strived to be her friend, they did whatever they could to be in Izumi's heart. The blonde smiled a little bit, even though the bad feeling was still stirring in her stomach. She would just go to sleep, everything was going to be okay.

**

* * *

**

"What? You guys broke up?" Izumi asked, gaping at her friend.

Keiko shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Why?" the blonde cried, pausing her ministrations on the string of Keiko's bikini. "Did you guys get into a fight? What happened?"

Keiko sighed. "We just… We thought that maybe things would work out better if we were just friends. It gets a little awkward like this, you know? I mean… being close friends one minute, then making out and stuff the next." She laughed. "I mean, we've been apart for a week now, ever since the whole thing with Belphemon."

Izumi nodded slowly, going back to the tie. "Are you okay?" she asked.

Keiko smiled a little bit. "I'm fine. I think that it's better this way, you know?"

Izumi sighed, lowering her hands. "It's tied. Are you sure that things won't be awkward tonight?"

Keiko grinned. "It'll be fine. I promise."

"I've never had a Hawaiian luau party," Izumi said, attempting to change the subject. "I think it's a great way to kick off the first week of school."

Keiko smiled. "Well, you know, high school's such a big thing, and-"

The brunette was unable to finish her thought, as the smoke alarms began to go off. "Crap…" Keiko muttered. "I'll be back in a minute." She jogged down the stairs and opened the oven doors, coughing as smoke began to filter out. "Damn it." The chicken she had set in the oven was slightly burnt, but no worse for the wear.

Keiko pulled the chicken out and set it to sit. With a growl, she bounded up the stairs and up to her brother's room, wrenching the door open. "Saburo! Didn't I tell you to-" She stifled herself at the sight in front of her.

Saburo was in bed, laying under another boy. The sheets were pulled up to their waists, but she got a view of their naked chests and her eye twitched. They were both staring, open mouthed.

Keiko was doing the same thing, she was shocked out of her mind. She had had her suspicions about her brother's sexual orientation, but this was _not _the way she had planned on figuring it out.

"Uh, get out?" Saburo said weakly, his face as red as a tomato.

"Sorry," Keiko croaked, closing the door slowly and going back upstairs. When she entered the room, her face completely pink.

"You okay, Keiko?" Izumi asked.

Keiko took a deep breath. "Uh, Izumi?"

The blonde raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"

"I think I'm a yaoi fangirl."

**

* * *

**

Izumi and Keiko finally finished decorating the large front yard, lighting every tiki torch and putting up the cabana next to the big table of food. Keiko ordered several palm trees and had hammocks hanging on them. The only lighting was the torches and some hanging lamps.

The two girls finally put the finishing touches on themselves, putting grass skirts on over their bikinis.

Finally, guests began arriving, all in swim gear. Michiko, Asashi and Tamotsu arrived together, as did Kouji, Kouichi and Junpei. Takuya and Tomoki came in a pair last, a few minutes later than they had planned, but nothing too terrible.

"Welcome to the first annual tiki party!" Keiko announced dramatically.

"Tonight for our festivities, we will be having the first annual before school Olympics!" Izumi added, clapping her hands together with a grin.

"We will all be divided into two teams, and fight to the death!" Keiko exclaimed. "Now, I shall show you to the events!"

They headed to the pool, which had a floating divider on the half way point. "For this event," Izumi said. "one person from each team will jump into the pool and attempt to get all five of the rings on each side of the pool. You'll only be able to take one at a time and you have to put it in the floating basket in the water. The only catch? You'll have your legs tied together!"

"Isn't that a little dangerous?" Kouji asked.

"Uh, yeah," Keiko said. "But that's why you have to choose wisely who does each event. And we have lifeguards on duty," the brunette said, pointing to the two Siberian Huskies sitting on the sides of the pool. "They're good swimmers. I promise," she added, smiling brightly.

"Oh my God, Keiko," Izumi cooed. "You're so cute!"

Keiko made a face at Izumi and led the teenagers and the preteen out of the pool area and to the left, where there was a huge expanse of yard. "And for the next event, we will have a dance off." Everybody began to laugh. "Um, we have one person from each team come out and dance to our choices of music."

"That's kind of unfair, though," Takuya said. "Keiko's a dancer. Whoever gets Keiko on their team has an advantage."

"We've already decided that I can't do it," the brunette assured him. "We thought it was unfair."

"Next event," Izumi said, bringing them to the large driveway, where there was a lone flag on a staff at the end and two tricycles at the beginning. "One person from each team will ride a tricycle all the way to the end of the driveway and grab the flag. You may have noticed there's only one, and that's because the two people will have to fight for the flag. Anything goes in this one, ladies and gentlemen," she said, laughing a little bit.

"And for our fourth and final event, we have the chicken fight contest," Keiko said, walking over to the pool again. "We'll have our lovely lifeguards clear out the pool area and then two people from each team will play chicken. I'm sure we all know how to play that. But whoever is knocked off first, loses."

"Now, for the teams! We already picked randomly and these are how they go!" Izumi exclaimed. "On one team, it's me Junpei, Takuya, Asashi and Kouichi. On the _loser _team, it's Keiko, Tomoki, Kouji, Michiko and Tamotsu."

Keiko huffed. "Whatever. Now, let's begin."

**

* * *

**

"Okay, so it's agreed that I'm doing this one, right?" Keiko asked.

"Yeah, you are the one who's been swimming the longest, after all," the raven haired boy replied, finishing tying her legs together. "Too bad you have to go against Asashi."

Keiko gawked, turning and looking over to said brunette. "What? I have to go against Asashi? But he made it onto the varsity swim team in eighth grade!"

"Well, good luck, then," Kouji said, helping the teen up.

Both competitors stood at the edge of the pool, Asashi looking calm, and Keiko looking nervous.

"On your mark!" Takuya exclaimed. "Get set!" Both took position at the edge of the pool. "GO!"

The two teenagers dove into the pool, swimming to the bottom. Asashi barely had a splash behind him as he streamlined all the way to the bottom. Keiko wasn't far behind though, she may not have been a varsity swimmer, but she had been swimming in her pool since she was a toddler.

Asashi was the first one back to the surface, paddling to the basket and dropping his first ring in it.

"Go Asashi! You can do it!" Izumi exclaimed, jumping up and down happily.

The brunette grinned at her and dove back under the water. As soon as he broke the surface, Keiko emerged and tossed the ring in, diving right back in.

The two were neck and neck the entire time. Asashi did end up beating the brunette, though, when she accidentally dropped her ring back into the water at one point.

"Asashi! You won!" Izumi cried happily, jumping into the water and landing in his muscled arms, laughing.

Keiko broke the surface of the water, looking disappointed.

"It's okay, Keiko," Tomoki said. "You did really good."

The brunette smiled, pulling herself out of the water. "Thanks, Tomoki," she said.

"Next event!" Izumi announced as she handed Asashi a big towel. "Let's all get to the yard for the dance off!"

**

* * *

**

"Uh, does anyone here know how to dance besides Keiko?" Tamotsu asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"I kind of can, but we're saving me for the chicken fight, right?" Michiko asked and received nods as an answer.

Takuya stepped into the middle of the yard, wiggling his hips. "I'm ready!"

"I'll do it guys," Tomoki said. "We can pick out a song right?"

Keiko nodded. "You sure you're up for this Tomoki? I mean, this isn't easy…"

Tomoki shrugged. "I'll do my best."

The team put their hands in, yelling. "Team KouMokiKoKoSu! Let's get some!" They had made a mixture of all five of their names, since they didn't want to yell out, 'Team Michiko!', or 'Team Tomoki!' and leave everybody else out.

Tomoki walked out to the field and Takuya laughed. "You're gonna try to beat me, Tomoki? All the girls try to dance with me at the dances for a reason, you know."

"Your bark's bigger than your bite, Takuya," Tomoki retorted wryly.

"Toin coss," Keiko said, walking to the middle. "Who wants it?"

"You mean coin toss, right?" Takuya asked.

"That's what I said, coin toss," Keiko replied, furrowing her eyebrows slightly. "Did I say something else?"

"You said toin coss," Tomoki said.

"Oops," Keiko said, flushing and clearing her throat.

"You're so adorable Keiko!" Izumi cooed from across the field and Keiko hissed at her.

"Shaddap! Alright, _coin toss. _Heads or tails, Takuya?" She tossed the coin up.

"Tails," Takuya said as it flipped through the air.

"You got it. You want to go first or second?" she asked.

"Second," the brunette said, smirking at the younger boy. "We'll see what Tomoki's got."

"Fine," Tomoki said, walking to the middle of the field.

"This is like 8 Mile," Keiko whispered excitedly to Tamotsu, who chuckled.

Michiko pressed the play button on the stereo and the unmistakable beat of 'Billie Jean' began to play on it.

Tomoki launched all out by putting his thumb in the waist of his jeans, pelvic thrusting like Michael Jackson himself. And before they knew it, he was doing every single Michael Jackson move ever seen. He moonwalked, perched himself on his tippy toes and leaned forward extremely far without making his heels leave the ground. It was insanity. Nobody had known Tomoki could dance like that, so when he finished, they broke out into hoots and cheers, clapping.

Takuya was just standing there with his mouth gaping open and his eye twitching. "I forfeit," he said, walking back to his team.

Team KouMokiKoKoSu was extremely happy.

**

* * *

**

"And for our next event," Keiko said in a manly voice, "we have Junpei of Team Fire Lizards-"

"I still hate that name," Izumi chirped.

"-going against Tamotsu of team KouMokiKoKoSu!"

Cheers and applause were heard as the two competitors stepped up and mounted the small tricycles.

"On your mark!" Izumi cried. "Get set! GO!"

The two began to pedal like maniacs, flying off of the start and zooming down the driveway. They cut the turns close, staying neck and neck the entire time. Tamotsu got to the start quicker and he jumped off of the tricycle, grabbing the flag and heading back to his vehicle.

He sped back down the driveway, Junpei on his tail the entire time. The older boy almost knocked him off the tricycle a few times. Tamotsu ended up winning the race, and he got a ginormous group hug from his teammates, even Kouji.

**

* * *

**

"The last event," Izumi announced. "Is epic. This is what we've all been waiting for. The main attraction! It's time for the chicken fight!"

Kouichi was standing in the water, and Kouji was on his opposite side. Michiko was there too, standing behind Kouji on the edge of the pool, Izumi doing the same to the older twin.

"Be careful, guys," Keiko said as Michiko was lowered onto Kouji's shoulders by Tamotsu. "This is kind of dangerous, you know?"

Kouji nodded. "We'll be okay."

Asashi helped Izumi onto Kouichi's shoulders, and the blonde gripped his hair slightly. "I really don't want to die," Izumi said with a nervous chuckle.

"You'll be okay," Asashi said, patting her hair with a smile. "Now, do your best, guys."

"Ready, set, GO!" Tomoki exclaimed and the twins walked to each other carefully. The two teens on their shoulders began pushing against the other, trying to knock the other off of the shoulders of their teammates. Izumi seemed to be working her butt off, breaking into a sweat while she pushed on Michiko's shoulders. Michiko was working just as hard, pushing on Izumi's face roughly.

"Come on, Michiko!" Tamotsu exclaimed. "You can do this!"

Suddenly there was a splash and one of the teams were down and in the water.

Silence… And then…

"We did it!" Izumi squealed, jumping into the water with Kouichi and giggling as she broke the surface. Kouji looked like a wet, angry as he was pulled out of the pool, and Michiko looked somewhat upset.

"Well, we're tied now," Keiko said. "So what should we do now?"

Izumi looked devious. "I know."

**

* * *

**

The ten were floating in the pool, all lined up one by one.

"Okay, so whoever can stay under the longest wins, right?" Keiko asked. Izumi nodded. "Okay," the brunette said. "On your marks, get set, go."

They all dropped under the water, their eyes closed and their lungs filled with air.

The first one to break the surface ended up being Michiko, who hadn't gotten a good breath to begin with, and she was followed immediately by Tomoki, who came up sputtering.

Junpei wasn't far behind and neither was Izumi, who whined about being unable to hold her breath for long amounts of time.

Seconds passed slowly and Kouichi came to the surface with a loud gasp for air, and then Kouji. The twins seemed to have the same lung capacity.

Two people from each team were still under the water, Keiko, Asashi, Tamotsu and Takuya, who all seemed to be faring quite well.

There was a splash and Keiko emerged coughing and gasping for air. She obviously pushed herself too far and now she was paying for it. Kouji and Kouichi basically had to drag her out of the water.

Takuya emerged next, coughing hard and swimming to the edge of the pool messily, dragging himself onto the granite floors of the pool.

Now, it was between Asashi and Tamotsu, best friends. They had been under for at least a minute and Izumi seemed to be worrying quite a bit. "What if something happens? People shouldn't stay under water for so long."

"Three minutes without air, three days without water and three days without food," Keiko said, still coughing softly. "They're okay."

Just as Keiko finished her sentence, Asashi emerged, gasping weakly for air and reaching a hand out. Izumi grabbed it and pulled him to the side. "You're okay," she said, smiling at him. Takuya raised an eyebrow.

Tamotsu emerged, grinning and cheering.

"You're like a freaking merman, Tamotsu," Keiko said with a laugh. "How'd you do it?"

Tamotsu shrugged. "I don't know. Just don't ask me to do it again."

"You know what that means?" Keiko asked excitedly, beaming at the teen.

"What?" he prompted to the adorable teen.

"Team KouMokiKoKoSu won!" she yelled, jumping up and down and giggling happily.

"So cute," Tamotsu muttered to himself, smiling at the brunette.

**

* * *

**

"So, what're your dreams for high school, Izumi?" Takuya asked, leaning back a little bit on the hammock.

The blonde smiled back at him, reclining on the other side. "I don't know. I want to be a better person than I was last year," she said, looking up the sky.

Takuya nodded. "I already think you are… If it means anything."

Izumi smiled, her pretty green eyes lighting up. "It does… It really does."

The brunette grinned at her and looked at his hands. "Hey… You remember that time in the Digital World, when we were looking around that castle and… um… Well, we were talking about changing…"

Izumi nodded. "Yeah?"

"Before I fell asleep, I was going to tell you something important-"

"Yeah?"

"-Something that might make us…" He sighed. "What I was trying to say, Izumi, is that I l-"

"Hey, Izumi, wanna take a walk?"

The blonde looked up and saw Asashi smiling down at her. "I hope I'm not interrupting anything…"

"No, it's fine," Izumi said, standing up and looking at Takuya. "We'll talk later, okay?"

The brunette nodded, looking somewhat sad. "Yeah…"

The blonde walked away from Takuya and with Asashi, smiling up at him.

Takuya sighed and looked over towards the other hammocks. Michiko was sitting on one with Kouichi, who seemed to be reading her palm, both of them smiling. Tamotsu was on a hammock with Keiko, who was red faced and sputtering in embarrassment. Takuya almost smiled, knowing that the blonde still had an effect on her that way.

He laid backwards on the hammock, sighing. Everybody seemed to be having luck besides him. Where was the love?

Suddenly there was a weight on him stomach and his eyes widened as the air was pushed out of him forcefully. "Kouji! Get off of me!"

Said blue eyed boy turned and raised an eyebrow. "I was just taking a seat on this hammock. There's not need to yell at me." And he smirked. The arrogant jerk _smirked_ at him.

"I'll gut you," Takuya snapped, pushing the boy off and back onto the hammock.

"What's wrong with you?" Kouji asked, leaning back against the tree. "I saw that Izumi was over here a few minutes ago. Did she say something to you?"

"It was more like what she didn't say," the brunette said with a sigh.

Kouji raised an eyebrow. "And what didn't she say?"

Takuya huffed and turned over onto his side, muttering something under his breath.

"I can't _hear _you when you're on your side like that, Takuya," Kouji said, pinching his thigh. "Turn over."

"Hmph…"

"Takuya sweetheart," Kouji chirped. "Please turn over, sweet honey bunny."

"God, Kouji," Takuya sighed, turning over onto his back again. "You're so freaking weird."

Kouji smirked. "That's how you like me."

Takuya smiled and looked up at the sky for a few minutes. "What do you think high school will be like?" he asked softly.

"I don't know," Kouji replied honestly. "I'm sure it'll be fine."

"You pinky promise we'll stay friends throughout all the girls and the puberty and the growing up and stuff?" Takuya asked happily, sitting up and holding his pinky out.

Kouji rolled his eyes. "A pinky promise? Takuya, are you serious?"

"Does it look like I'm kidding dearie?"

"No, it doesn't darling."

"Now pinky promise me, baby doll."

"Whatever you want, honey."

The two started to laugh at the banter they had made back and forth. Yeah, they were definitely best friends.

**

* * *

**

Guys, did you REALLY think I was gonna kill Bokomon and Neemon. I was just trying to tap into Izumi's unconscious fears. :D Well, I was thinking, I'm gonna hold a little fun thing for all of you wonderful reviewers! I'm going to think of a number between 1 and 10, and **whoever gets it first gets to ask any character they want 5 questions**! :D Well, that's all for today! Please review! *Tap dances*


	28. When Broken Is Easily Fixed

**A/N: **HIGH SCHOOL?!? WOO HOO!!! Read da notes at da bottom. :D

**

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**

Takuya stared up at the giant building, slightly intimidated. He was exhausted, he had stayed up half the night worrying about what classes he would have and who would be in each of them. Everybody but the freshman had gotten their schedules mailed to them, so the poor brunette didn't know where in the world his classes were, besides his homeroom.

He figured that the best bet was to find somebody with a last name that started with K or something close to it, that way, they'd be able to find their classes together. Luckily, one of his close friends happened to be a Kimura, so he had nothing to worry about as far as that went.

Takuya walked to the entrance, where he was supposed to meet his friends. They were a little hard to find, considering the school uniforms were the same besides the small badges with the grade levels on the fronts.

The uniforms weren't too bad, Takuya thought. For the boys it was a white button down shirt with a red tie, and a gray wool vest over it. Black pants and black shoes finished it off.

The girls wore the same thing, only they had red skirts instead of black pants. Takuya smiled. All of these hot high school chicks in cute schoolgirl uniforms. Maybe high school wouldn't be so bad, after all.

"Takuya!"

The brunette turned and grinned at the blonde who called his name, walking over to her and his other friends.

"Hey guys!" Takuya exclaimed happily, looking at all of them. "I haven't seen any of you since the luau last week," he said, running a hand through his brown locks.

"I know," Keiko said, nodding. "I haven't had the chance to hang out with anybody either. It was cleaning week." She shuddered. "I hate cleaning week."

"You have a whole cleaning week?" Tamotsu asked. "I have a cleaning day, but that's all."

"I'd love to spend only a day on it, but Naoki won't let us stop until we can see our reflections in the hardwood and stuff. We have to clean the ceilings too, and with Mister Boots' broken leg, he can't do it for us."

"Your cat broke it's leg?" Izumi asked. "How did that happen?"

Keiko shrugged. "Bar fight."

"_What?_" Kouichi asked. "Your _cat-"_

"We're in the same homeroom, Kouichi!" Takuya interrupted, smiling at the older twin. "That way we can figure out our schedules!"

Kouichi smiled. "That's really cool, Takuya."

"I know," the brunette replied. "Anybody else here have homeroom together?"

"Tamotsu and I do," Keiko said. "Takishita and Tanaka…"

"Me and Asashi have homeroom together, too," Michiko said. "Tomoe Michiko and Tenoh Asashi."

"I don't have it with anyone," Izumi huffed.

"Me either," Kouji said with a sigh.

"I'm sure you'll find people there that you know," Takuya reassured them just as the bell went off. "Well, good luck everyone!"

And with that, they all went off their separate ways.

**

* * *

**

"My name is Chiba-sensei and I'm going to be your earth science teacher," the man at the front of the room said, writing his name on the board. "Let's see, I'm going to take attendance, alright? Then we're all going to say one interesting thing we did this summer."

The teacher went in alphabetical order, figuring out interesting things about each student.

"Next… Takishita Keiko. Interesting, I didn't think I would have _you _in any of my classes," Chiba-sensei said, smiling.

"Sorry to disappoint you, sensei," she said nervously, rubbing the back of her head. "I'm Keiko, and an interesting thing I did this summer was…

'_Make out with one of my best friends? Defeat an evil Digimon? Think, Keiko, think!'_

Uh, I took a trip to Paris."

"That's interesting," the teacher said, and Keiko realized he said 'interesting' a lot.

"Next… Tanaka Tamotsu."

**

* * *

**

"Welcome," the teacher said dramatically, slamming his hands down on the desk. "To global studies. You will be learning about other places on earth besides Japan. Europe, the Americas, Africa, everywhere!"

He looked around the room, completely silent. "Now. Names!" He pointed to Izumi, who was in the first row. "Your name!"

"Orimoto Izumi," the blonde said.

"And you!" he cried, pointing to Kouichi who was on her other side.

"Kimura Kouichi," he said.

"Beautiful names!" the teacher cried jovially. "Just gorgeous! Next! Oh, names! Let's hear them _all!_"

Izumi didn't know if she wanted to laugh, or cry.

**

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**

"I'm really hung over," the brunette teacher at the front of the room said. "So for our first day, we'll be watching The Lion King. Got it?"

The students just stared.

"Do you know how to talk?" she sneered. "I'm Morioka-sensei, by the way. Now, all of you be quiet and watch the damn movie."

She walked (stumbled) to the DVD player on the TV and put in the children's movie, then she dragged herself back to the table and slumped over it. "Somebody turn off the lights."

Takuya took the liberty to shut off the ceiling lights and then sat back in his seat, turning around to talk to Kouji. "You look seductive with the lights off," he said, and the boys broke out into soft giggles.

"I'd like to say the same to you, but I don't like to lie," Kouji replied, and Takuya gasped in fake shock.

"Why, I've never!" he whispered, grinning. "I'm a beautiful man and-"

"Boy."

"Man, boy, same difference. But either way, I'm beautiful and I won't take attitude like that from somebody like you," Takuya said, huffing, but unable to keep the smile off his face.

"Just watch the movie, dumb shit," Kouji whispered, looking to the TV screen.

"Sorry, didn't mean to distract you from your favorite movie," Takuya said, rolling his eyes and turning around in his seat to face the television.

"Who told you?" Kouji hissed, grabbing his shoulder hard.

Takuya raised his eyebrows. "What?"

"Uh, nothing," Kouji coughed. "Just watch the movie."

Takuya laughed and watched the movie, but he noticed how Kouji mouthed almost every single part.

**

* * *

**

"We always get into the same lunch together!" Izumi exclaimed happily, sitting down in the seat between Asashi and Junpei.

"I know, right?" Michiko asked, grinning. "I think it's because Asashi's mom is a guidance counselor, and she can get us all into lunch together."

"Your mom's a guidance counselor?" Izumi asked, tilting her head to the side.

The brunette nodded. "Yeah, lucky me."

Izumi grinned. "That's really cool."

"Well, Tamotsu's dad is a doctor," Asashi said, turning the spotlight over to his best friend.

"Yeah, he was my doctor when I was in my coma," Kouichi said. "He was really cool."

"Yeah, unlike his son," Michiko said and Tamotsu gaped at her.

"I'll have you know that I'm extremely cool and funny and smart and nice and beautiful," the blonde shot back, sticking his tongue out at the wine-haired girl. "Right, Keiko?"

The brunette turned her head and looked at the blonde for a moment, then turned back to her food.

"Hey, uh, Keiko?" Takuya asked from across the table.

"Yeah, Takuya?" the brunette replied, looking up.

"Is that filet-mignon in your bento box?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah…"

"Uh, can I have some? I love steak."

Keiko shrugged, dumping some into his box. "Sure. I wasn't going to eat it all anyway. Sometimes Naoki gives me as much food to feed a third world country."

Kouji raised an eyebrow. "You don't make your own lunches?"

Keiko narrowed her eyes. "I can make my own lunches…" she muttered. "Sometimes Naoki surprises me and makes them though, and he always does on special days."

"Today's a special day?" Junpei asked.

"First day of school," Keiko said, eating a cube of the steak. "He's strange, but nice."

"Do you all have biology here?" Izumi asked, causing everybody to look up.

"No, I have Earth Science," Takuya said, and Asashi, Tamotsu and Keiko echoed his statement.

"I had biology last year," Junpei added.

"Well, can you believe we all have homework already?" Izumi asked.

"Wow, do you really?" Asashi asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah, we have to get a bunch of shit signed, and then do three pages out of a textbook," Kouji said, eating a piece of rice with a scowl on his face.

Suddenly, the bell rang and all of the people made a mad dash for the exits and to their next class.

"Wow! Lunch was so much longer in middle school," Kouichi said as he stood up and grabbed his notebooks. "I think you're in my next class, Keiko," he said.

"Yeah, we've got health together," the brunette replied, smiling at the boy and walking over to him.

"I've got it, too," Kouji added, joining the other two.

"I have geometry, now," Izumi said.

"Me too," Michiko said, grinning at the blonde.

"I do, too," Tamotsu said and the girls tilted their heads at him. "What? You're shocked that I'm in advanced math?"

"No, you just have a huge booger in your nose," Michiko replied, smirking.

Tamotsu slapped a hand to his face. "WHAT?!?"

"Just kidding," the wine-haired girl said, sticking her tongue out. "But we'd better hurry, or else we'll be late for our next class."

**

* * *

**

"Wow, they even give us stuff for gym," Keiko muttered, her eye twitching. "And I'm not wearing it."

"Aww! Come on Keiko!" Izumi cried. "You have to! You have to most adorable little butt, and-"

"But there's mostly boys in our class!" Keiko whined, giving the blonde sad eyes.

"It'll be fine," Michiko assured the brunette. "It could be worse! You could have enormously, gigantic boobs, too!" She looked at Izumi. "No offense…"

"None taken…" Suddenly the blonde's eyes widened. "Hey! You take that back! I have perfectly normal boobs!"

"Riiiiight," the other two said, rolling their eyes.

"Anyway," Michiko said. "We don't even have to change until the day after tomorrow, so don't stress, okay?"

Keiko nodded. "It's just… Tamotsu's in our gym…"

"That's an even better reason to be wearing this!" Izumi exclaimed, holding up the white T-shirt with red lining on the neckline and sleeves and the red buruma**(1)**.

Keiko rolled her eyes. "Sorry, dear, we're not all as confident as you."

Izumi sighed. "Keiko…"

"Hey look! It's the boys!" Michiko exclaimed happily, waving to them. "Hey guys!"

"Hey," Takuya said, smiling at the girls. "Nice gym clothes. Isn't it great that we're all in the same class?" he asked, motioning to his right and towards the other boys in their group of friends.

"It's actually… Very ironic," the blonde said, peering towards Keiko, who was still suffering from a slight eye twitch.

"What's wrong, Keiko?" Tamotsu asked, tilting his head a little bit, he fell into step with the brunette. "I guess it's been a long day, huh?"

"Ah, yeah," the aquamarine eyed girl said. "I'm glad it's over though. Nine classes of torture…"

The blonde nodded and smiled. "I know what you mean. I'm pretty beat myself…"

Keiko couldn't help but smile at the blonde, who began to talk with Michiko. She caught herself staring and she peered over to Kouichi, just to see if he caught it. He seemed to have his eyes on Michiko, though, who was laughing and grinning. The ex-couple locked eyes and shared a smile.

Yeah, it was totally okay to move on.

**

* * *

**

"You're kidding!" Izumi exclaimed into her pink cell phone.

"_Nope! I got onto the soccer team!"_

"Oh my God, Keiko! That's great! I heard it was really hard to get into JV, because of all of the people trying out and all the middle schools merging together."

"_I heard it was, too. But I made it, and so did Michiko! I'm so happy! They had to cut a ton of people… Hey, I have a game tomorrow, do you want to come?"_

"Of course I do! I might even rally up the others to go."

"_Oh no, Izumi, don't do that… They're already making the boys JV team come and watch…"_

"Speaking of, did Takuya and Tamotsu make it on the team?"

"_Yeah, they both did. Takuya was getting seriously considered to be on varsity, too."_

"Really? That's my Takuya!"

"_Uh… Your Takuya?"_

"What?"

"_You just said, that's my Takuya."_

"Did I? Aha, well, uh, you know how I get excited sometimes…"

"_You're in love."_

"Oh, my mom's calling me. I've got to go!"

"_I didn't hear-"_

Izumi closed her phone and buried her face in her bed. After four long days at high school, it wasn't cool to get embarrassed like that.

**

* * *

**

On Friday night, Izumi sat in the stands with Junpei, Tomoki, Kouji, Kouichi, and Asashi (who was making sure she didn't get too 'cold' by keeping her cuddled close to her side). They were all pretty excited to be able to see Keiko and Michiko's first game, and they made sure to get good seats.

"I wonder how it's going to go," Tomoki said, sipping at his hot chocolate.

"I'm sure they'll both do great," Kouichi supplied, smiling. "I know that Michiko wants to win this game more than anything…"

"You be good to her, Kouichi," Asashi said, sticking his tongue out at the raven haired boy.

"It's starting!" Junpei exclaimed, shushing them all.

The players began to take the field, and nobody missed Kouichi's smile when he noticed that she was a starter on defense.

The first half kept everybody on the edge of their seats, a tenth-grader from the other team seemed to be more skilled than anybody could've been ready for. Michiko and the other defenders were keeping her away from the goal as much as they could, but she was a wonderful player, and she scored on them.

Keiko came in during the second half and took the forward position. This caused cheers from Izumi and her brothers, who were a few rows away.

The Shibuya team seemed to be doing very well, keeping the ball away from the goal and attempting to shoot on the other team. The girl who had played magnificently, and very aggressively was on defense now, and that caused some worry among the team.

In the last minute of the third quarter, Keiko had gotten possession of the ball, and with quick feet, flew past the defenders (tripping the 'soccer star' on the way) and scoring.

The crown went wild and Keiko beamed happily, that is until the girl who was tripped was suddenly there, and connected her fist with the smaller teen's face.

Keiko was knocked backwards into the goal, hit her on the metal goal post and dropped to the ground, holding her nose, howling, and knowing it was broken. The people in the stands were standing up and looking absolutely shocked, while both the JV girl's team, and the JV boys, who were sitting on a bench right next to the girls all got to their feet, outraged.

The coaches and the referees made sure a fight didn't break out between any of the other girls, and the JV boy's captain grabbed the girl and dragged her back to her team as she tried to lash out at Keiko.

The coach went straight to Keiko's side, who had tears streaming down her face. "Are you okay, Keiko? Let me see your nose."

The brunette pulled her hands away and let out shuddering sobs as she looked at her nose.

"It's broken," the coach said, running a hand through her hair. "Are your brothers here, sweetheart?"

There were hands on Keiko's shoulders and she was turned to Naoki, who was the coach on the boy's JV team**(1). **"Are you okay, Keiko?"

Keiko just looked at him miserably as he looked at her nose. "We're going to the hospital. Make sure things don't get too out of hand here, Natsumi," he said, looking at Keiko's coach.

Natsumi nodded. "No, I was going to let them riot… Make sure she gets that nose fixed and make sure she actually recovers before she comes back, okay?"

Naoki rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't let my baby sister come back on the field with a broken nose, you idiot."

"You know what?" Natsumi hissed. "It's hard to tell with you sometimes, you-"

"Keiko? Are you alright? Is your nose broken?" Takuya cried as he and Tamotsu made it to the brunette. Seeing the tears rolling down her cheeks and the shaky breaths she was taking, he was sure that it was. If Keiko was crying, she must've been in some serious pain. Her cheeks were red, and he could tell she was humiliated.

"You should really bring her to the hospital," Tamotsu said, taking a knee next to the girl and placing a hand on her shoulder. "What if the nose bone shards go into her brain and-"

"Enough, Tamotsu," Naoki sighed, looking back to his sister. "How's your head?"

Keiko took in a shaky breath. "Hurts," she supplied and Naoki lifted the girl right up and carried her off the field.

"The game will go on," he called back. "And make sure that number ten doesn't get back onto the soccer field."

"Got it," Natsumi replied.

**

* * *

**

Keiko laid on her stomach in her bed, a glass of ice water with a purple curly straw in it on her bedside table. Her nose was covered in bandages and was still aching after being broken and set. She had a very minor concussion, but she was doing fine overall. She was just tired and very embarrassed.

There was a knock at the door, and after a strange sounding 'come in', Saburo walked in, looking a little bit sympathetic. "Hey," he said, closing the door.

"Hey," she replied, turning over slightly. "What's up?"

"Nothing…" he replied, sitting on the edge of the bed. "How's your nose, kiddo?"

"Sore," the brunette said softly. "But at least my nose bone shards didn't go into my brain, like Tamotsu said in his moment of brilliance."

"The concussion didn't take away a bit of your personality," her brother said, smiling fondly at her. "You took it pretty well, though. I know I would have been flailing all over the place."

Keiko laughed and grinned at him. "You would've been fine."

"Getting punched in the nose hurts," Saburo added. "Seriously. Keiji punched me in the face a couple of years ago, and it wasn't even that hard. I mean, nose pain is totally the worse."

"Nose pain," Keiko chuckled. "Sometimes I wonder about you, Saburo."

"Same for you," the teen replied, sticking his tongue out at the girl.

There was silence as their eyes wandered to the flat-screen on the wall, where Brokeback Mountain was playing. "Why are you watching this?" Saburo asked, looking to his sister with pink cheeks.

"Because it's hot… Almost as hot as you and your… guy… Why didn't you tell me? I mean, I've always figured it, but… I thought we told each other everything…" Keiko huffed.

"We do," Saburo said softly, plucking at the sheets. "I just… I didn't want you to think of me any differently or stereotype me. People think that all gays are purse carrying, lisping, fashionistas who can't get dirt under their fingernails…"

"I know you're not like that," Keiko said. "I wouldn't have thought of you any differently. I mean, you're the same person as you've always been, only you like other guys…"

Saburo sighed. "Not everybody thinks like that, Keiko. There are some seriously nasty people in the world who _kill _people like me."

"I know," the brunette said sadly. "I know…"

There was silence for a moment and then Keiko decided to make this a more positive talk. "Was that your boyfriend who was nailing you?"

Saburo sputtered. "Keiko!"

"Was it?"

Saburo blushed. "Yeah… He's my boyfriend."

"How long have you two been together?"

"Since eighth grade…" He scratched the back of his head. "It's been two years…"

"That's a long time," Keiko said with a dreamy sigh. "He was pretty cute, though."

"Don't bother," the brunette scoffed. "He's gay."

"Duh," Keiko giggled, slapping her brother playfully on the back of his head. "I'm not stupid… So, you're the uke, huh?"

Saburo sputtered again. "Keiko! I DO NOT WANT TO TALK ABOUT MY SEX LIFE WITH YOU!"

"Well, he's taller and stuff! It's pretty obvious! And when I walked in on you guys he was on top of you and stuff…"

"Oh, Keiko," Saburo groaned, laying down on the bed and covering his face with his hands. "Oh my God."

The two talked for another hour, and then Saburo stayed with Keiko and the two watched a random ninja movie together under the covers.

"No more secrets, right Saburo?" Keiko asked once the movie was over and he began to leave.

"No more secrets," he replied, smiling. "Goodnight, Keiko."

"Goodnight. I love you, nii-san," she said.

"How long has it been since you've called me that?" he asked softly and his sister blushed. "I love you, too, Imouto." He walked out and shut the door gently behind him.

Keiko smiled and curled up under the covers, ready to get some rest. Suddenly her cell phone rang, and she reached over miserably to answer it. "Hello?"

"_Hey, Keiko! I forgot to tell you what we're all doing on Monday!"_

"Huh?"

"_I signed us all up for the school play!"_

"WHAT?!?"

**

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**

**(1): A buruma is basically like a bathing suit bottom. Look it up online if you'd like. :D**

**(2): In case you don't remember, Naoki was the coach for the seventh grade boys team in earlier chapters. He moved up, apparently! :D**

Well, that's all for this chapter. Oh, in case you're all wondering why the hell I didn't reply to your reviews, it's because it's late, and I'm tired, so tomorrow after school, I'll reply to your reviews in PM's. Sorry for the inconvenience... :\

The winner of the number guessing game for this chapter was caliboy! One of our new reviewers! :D *Dances* You all have a shot at reviewing any of the characters in these next reviews! So pick wisely! Well, here's his questions he asked Keiko!

1. Why did you date Kouichi when you and Tamotsu have liked each other for so long? How do you think he felt about that?

K: Umm, well, I've liked Tamotsu for like, ever, but I've liked Kouichi since the Digital World too. I think when I came down to it, though, I dated Kouichi because I liked him a lot, and I thought that Tamotsu didn't like me anymore. As far as Tamotsu's feelings go… I don't know how he felt about everything. We haven't talked much about Kouichi and that situation… I'm guessing he didn't feel too great though. *Frowns* No, probably not.

2. Do you find it hard to get along with and put up with Izumi sometimes?

K: Uh, yeah, it can be tough at times. I mean, she's my best friend, and nobody's perfect, but she can be… Well, if we're around guys, she acts totally different, but if not, she's really cool and everything. She's changed a lot, though. Like, she used to be a major bitch, but she's way cooler that she used to be, you know?

3. Do you think there is something going on between Kouji and Takuya that is more than just friendship?

K: *Giggles* I don't really know. But that would be so hot if there was. *Looks off into space and sighs* I think Izumi and I are gonna have to work on that…

4. Did you ever wonder if animals really can understand what we say? For example, when you and Kouichi first kissed, when he left, Mister Boots was there smiling at you and gave you a high five.

K: I don't really think animals can understand stuff, I just think that Mister Boots is insane. *Smiles* But she's funny sometimes, too.

5. It must have been hard to lost your parents. Even though you have grieved, given the chance, would you go back in time and re-live your last few moments with them?

K: I… *Clears throat* It was _hard _going through everything when the accident happened. And if I had the chance to relive those few moments with them, I don't think I would. Seeing it happen all over again… It would be like starting it over. It's still hard now, sometimes I think I'm going to lose my mind, because it _hurts. _*Blinks* I've come so far, I just don't think I could handle something like that.

6. (Tehehehe) Are you ever going to invite me to any of those rockin parties of yours?

K: *Smiles* Ahaha, sure I would! I'd invite all of my… er… the _authoress' _reviewers if I could… *Coughs* They're here for _me _though… Not the authoress…

Well, I appreciate that you wanted to talk to me, caliboy! *Huggles* You're madly cool! Come on over next time, reviewers! You all have another chance to interview me or one of my friends in this next batch of reviews! Take your best shots at the numbers!


	29. Interlude: To Be Happy

Interlude 2: To Be Happy

Keiko, at seven years old, still had trouble with the concept of death. She stood in her little sister's room, staring at the boxes overtaking the entire space of the room. "Daddy?" she asked softly.

He looked over at her from where he was taking boxes out of the closet. "Yes, Keiko?"

"Where'd Ayame go?"

Her father stared for a moment, watching her aquamarine eyes intently. "Ayame… can't be with us anymore."

"Why?" the little brunette asked, confused.

Her father looked to his right, blinking for a moment. He cleared his throat, trying to dispel the lump in it. He didn't know how to tell her that the six year old simply stopped breathing in the middle of the night.

"Did I do something wrong?"

Her father's eyes widened and he swept the little girl into his arms, holding her tightly to his chest and kissing her on the top of the head. "_No!_"he yelled. Taking a deep breath, he pulled her away from him. "No, Keiko. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Then why isn't she here?" the brunette asked, touching her dad's cheek lightly with small hands. "Where did she go? Why'd she leave?"

"Your sister went to a nice place," he said softly. "She can't be with us anymore, but trust me, Keiko, that she is in a nice place."

Keiko smiled, showing her missing front teeth. "Is she happy?"

Her father, overcome with emotion, pulled the girl back into his chest with a ragged sob. "Yes, Keiko. Yes, she's very happy."

Keiko nodded and hugged her father back. "I love you daddy," she said softly.

"I love you too, Keiko. I always will."

* * *

Yes, I went there. I just revealed something extreme in Keiko's past. Wow. That came out pretty sad. D: Well, I'll reply to your reviews in the next chapter, which will most likely be out tomorrow, kay? Happy Halloween guys! :D


	30. You Look Good, And I'm Drunk

**Review replies for chapter 28/29:**

**Caliboy: **Hehe, thank you very much, I'm glad you liked. :D I'm not sure if I can get your idea in there, though, only because I have such a set plan for what's going on in this fic, and it'd be so hard to cram that in as a long term thing. I sowwy. D: Thank you so much for the review, though. It made me smile!

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **Gracias! :D Keiko + Saburo x Gayness = Amazing! :D I loved writing that. I was thinking of me and you, I believe. BROMOSEXUALITY RULESSS! xD The hung over teacher reminds me of Anko when I re-read it. Ohoho. Thanks so much for the review, and I hope you like this chapter!

**Empyrea: **Yeah, it was kind of a chapter to get everybody settled. The girl who punched the heck out of Keiko probably won't be back for a while, but we may see her again! :D I really appreciate that you took the time to review, and I hope you like this chapter! :D

Well, well, I think you'll all like this chapter. Especially GirlsLikeeBoys, Sydneybell24 and My-little-star, because, well... You'll have to see! :D I can't believe I'm on the thirtieth chapter, now, right? I mean, it's been over a year since I started posting onto fanfiction . net. I'm so thankful for all of the people who have reviewed and encouraged me to take my writing to this level! Thank you all so much! I appreciate the readers more than anything! Enjoy this chapter, and have a nice night. :D Oh, and uh, I don't own any of the songs I used, except the third one, which is like, five words long. xD

**

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**

Nobody liked Izumi by the time Monday had rolled around; they didn't want to be in a musical, half of them didn't even know if they could sing. Izumi had declared that this was a way for them all to spend time together, and when Takuya said that Tomoki wouldn't be there, the blonde said that she found a way for him to be involved.

So, on Wednesday, they all went to auditions and a lady with a huge mole was sitting in the auditorium, barking out orders at them to sit down and be quiet.

"Wow, Izumi, this was a great choice," Takuya said through his teeth as he sat next to the blonde. "This crazy bitch is gonna drive me insane."

"Everybody here?" the lady yelled. The only people were the ten of them, who looked disturbed. "Alright, anybody else who plans to show up can't be in it."

"What?" Keiko asked, her voice a little distorted due to the bandage on her nose. "Why not?"

"This is what we call a speed play," the lady sneered. "Not many people audition for the play, because we rehearse for a month and have two showings."

"Only a month?" Michiko repeated curiously.

"Yes, and we only need a handful of characters to be in it. Now!" She clapped her hands together. "Everybody get onto the stage!" As the ten of them shuffled out of their seats, she said, "Call me Matsada, by the way."

"Hey, Kouji, that's the name of one of your hookups," Takuya whispered to the raven haired boy, and he gave him a death glare.

"There are three female characters in this play," Matsada said, looking around the room. "So obviously you three will be taking one of the roles! Now, this will not be a fun experience for any of you if you give me back talk! We'll go down the line, and we'll each say our names, got it? Here we go! Left to right!"

Each and every person on the stage yelled their names out, and Matsada somehow memorized all of them.

"Izumi, Michiko, Keiko, step forward!"

The three girls reluctantly stepped forward, looking nervous. "Do you all know the song 'Blue Bird', by Ikimono Gakari?" **(1) **Three nods. "Starting with Michiko, then Izumi, then Keiko, you'll each sing a line. You will all sing the chorus together as well. Got it?"

Three nods again, and Matsada walked to the piano, cracking her fingers and beginning to the intro. Michiko cleared her throat and sang the first line on tune and with a clear, confident voice. Izumi sang the second line with a voice that shocked everybody; Izumi was a fantastic singer. For those few seconds that she sang, everyone was taken away by the smooth and perfect quality of her voice. Keiko was next, and she sang the line with a sweet voice, but not nearly as beautiful as Izumi's voice.

When the song was over, Matsada stood up and wiped tears from her eyes. "Izumi, you have the lead role," she said tearfully. "Your voice… It's so beautiful."

The blonde smiled. "Thank you, Matsada."

"No, Izumi! Thank you!"

Takuya began to clap, and so did everybody else, including Matsada, who began to cry again. "Marvelous!" Matsada cried. She took a deep breath and looked to Keiko and Michiko. "You two. Your roles are just as important as each others!" She tilted her head to the side and looked at Michiko. "I think you'd be better at playing the villain, Michiko. And Keiko, you will be playing the main character's best friend."

Both girls grinned and Matsada continued. "You both have nice voices, as well." She looked to the boys now. "All of you step forward, I trust you know the song as well."

The girls were all surprised when Takuya sang first and had a lovely voice, almost as nice as Izumi's. Kouji's voice was actually wonderful as well, possibly better than Takuya's. Asashi was absolutely tone deaf, and began to laugh by the fifth word. Kouichi's voice was pretty decent, as well, but he was singing too timidly and his voice was shaking. Tamotsu was a great singer, too, able to carry the tunes like he created them. Junpei had a good voice, but he was still overshadowed by the others. Matsada decided that instead of acting on the stage, Tomoki would be the assistant director, and the boy seemed very happy about that.

"Now, it's obvious that Takuya will take the male lead," Matsada said when all the boys finished. "Kouji and Tamotsu, please step forward." The two complied, looking curious. "Kouji, stand next to Michiko…"

The raven haired boy nodded and walked over to the auburn haired girl, his hands over his chest. "Now, go stand next to Keiko." Raising an eyebrow, he did just that. Matsada rubbed her chin. "Tamotsu, do the same."

After the blonde did what he was told, Matsada stared them over for a moment. "Hmmm. Kouji, you're going to be working with Keiko, and Tamotsu, you'll be working with Michiko."

Tamotsu looked somewhat disappointed, but he didn't mind having to work with his best friend, at all. Kouji just stayed in his spot next to Keiko.

"And the rest, you'll be in Michiko's group of followers. Asashi will be the intimidating one, Kouichi will be the quiet one, and Junpei will be the one who has a crush on Michiko's character."

Matsada coughed and then pointed to Izumi. "You, Izumi, will be Gina** (2)**, a girl who's best friend is having boy troubles, and swears off of boys for a while. But that's hard for her when Takuya, who is going to be Hikaru, gets into her life and makes it hard for her to get keep her promise to herself. Michiko's character, Emiko, is the girl who's trying to get to Hikaru first, and ruin Gina's life. But the reason Emiko is so mean and cruel, is because she's insecure with herself and has no other outlet for her feelings. She doesn't realize that her best friend, Kaede, is right in front of her, willing to be her love. Keiko's character, Madoka, is in the story, but not actually involved in the main arc. She has her own side story with her boyfriend Minori, who will be played by Kouji. The two are having troubles in their relationship because Minori acts coldhearted towards Madoka, and they begin to shut off their relationships. Now, the person who your character falls in love with will be the person you will be spending a lot of time with. Kouichi, Asashi and Junpei will all be spending time together, too. And Tomoki. You'll be my new best friend."

Tomoki almost cried.

"Well, that's all for now, here are your scripts! I want you to be in character for practice tomorrow! Seven to nine, alright?"

**

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**

Izumi strolled across the makeshift bedroom on the stage and sang her lines. "_When he's sprouting out some sentimental mush! Love really is revolting, it's even worse then when you're molting. Enough of this fluff, just forget about love!_" **(3) **

Keiko moved on the bed and looked up to the ceiling. "_I had almost forgotten the way it felt, when he held out his hand for mine. My heart-_"

"KEIKO!" Matsada yelled, slamming her hands on the piano keys and causing both Izumi and Keiko to jump out of their skins. "Facial expression! I want to see more facial expression! I know for a fact that you live off of expression! Work with it, Keiko!"

Keiko rubbed her eyes. "I'm sorry," she said softly.

"Don't apologize!" Matsada snapped at the girl. "Just get it right!"

"Okay."

"Now, from the top…"

**

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**

"Tamotsu, do your lift with Michiko, again…"

Tamotsu gripped the girl around the waist with his hands and lifted her effortlessly off the floor and above his head, spinning her once and then catching her in his arms.

"Kouji, do your lift with Keiko."

"First one, or second one?" Kouji asked.

"First one…"

The raven haired boy took both of Keiko's hands and began with her facing him and arm's length away. Keiko jumped at the same time Kouji lifted her up and she spun in the air once before landing chest to chest with him and her legs wrapped around his hips.

"Good," Matsada said with a nod. "Takuya and Izumi, do your lift, then your triple cartwheel right after."

The two nodded and Izumi stood in front of Takuya, holding his hands behind her back. He pushed her into the air, and with their hands connected the whole time, she did a midair split, then jumped again and did a front flip. They parted theatrically then he waved her over. She did a cartwheel with his arms around her thighs, and then they reversed so she was holding him up as he did a midair cartwheel, then they reversed again before coming to a hault.

"Great job," Matsada said. "Now, we're going to put the in-between in the finale dance, then we'll have all of the dances done.

**

* * *

**"I hope all of you boys can do a backflip," Matsada said as she looked at Kouichi, Junpei and Asashi.

"Uh, no?" Junpei said, his eyes wide.

"Well, you're going to have to learn," she said. "Tomoki!" she screeched.

The preteen ran over. "Yes Matsada?"

"Get me a coffee and a bowl of popcorn, this should be interesting."

Tomoki huffed and jogged out of the auditorium doors. He didn't realize his job was assistant _to _the director, rather than assistant director.

**

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**

"Now," Matsada said, looking nervous and emotional at the same time. "This is our last practice together before the show tonight. We're going to go through the whole thing, then we'll have the makeup and costumes put on and it's time. Are you all ready for one last go?"

Nods from everybody. "Great," Matsada exclaimed. "Let's do it! From the top!"

**

* * *

**

"I can't believe it's already show time," Izumi said as Keiko helped her zip up her skirt from the back. "The month went by so fast."

"Don't remind me," Keiko sighed. "I feel sick enough as it is."

"Are you nervous, Keiko?" Michiko asked as she finished strapping on her shoes.

"Yeah," the brunette said softly. "Very nervous."

Michiko giggled. "I feel the adrenaline, but it's got me more excited than nervous. Like, I feel ready to run a marathon. I guess I just don't get stage fright very often…"

Keiko's eyebrow twitched and she clapped a hand over her mouth. "Scuse me."

The aquamarine eyed girl bolted from the girl's dressing room and sprinted down the hall towards the bathroom.

"Keiko?" Kouji called as she ran past him, Tamotsu and Takuya.

"Jeez, what's wrong with her?" Takuya asked, scratching his hairline. "She looks like she's gonna throw up." The bathroom door slammed.

"I hope she's okay," Tamotsu said softly, tilting his head to the side. Maybe I should-"

"She wouldn't want you to see her like that," Kouji sighed, walking to the bathroom. "I'll go get her."

The blue eyed boy walked into the girl's restroom and shook his head when he saw the girl kneeling over the toilet, retching. He walked over next to her and sat on her side, putting a hand on her back. "You okay?"

There was no reply as Keiko started up again, clutching the sides of the toilet seat desperately.

"You're so idiotic," Kouji said as Keiko finished throwing up. He patted her back lightly. "Are you done, now?"

"Shut up, you bastard," Keiko muttered, coughing. "I don't feel good."

"I wasn't making fun of you," he sighed, keeping the hand on her back and rubbing it around in circles. "You okay?"

She looked over to him with a miserable face and nodded. Kouji was about to help her up, but suddenly her eye twitched and she began to throw up in the toilet all over again. The raven haired boy groaned and held her hair back. "Why are you throwing up like this?"

Keiko, who had just finished, coughed lightly. "I'm really scared. There's so many people…"

"So?" he replied. "You do solo dances in front of just as many people. What's the difference?"

"The difference is that I know I can dance," she said, looking over at him. "I've never known that I could sing or act, so this is like…" She sighed softly. "I'm just scared."

Kouji pulled her off the toilet and held her shoulders squared to his own, looking her dead in the eye. "You're gonna be just fine," he said. "I know you will. I've seen you practice, and I know that you're a wonderful singer and actress."

Keiko's mouth opened, then shut; her face became pink. "Thank you, Kouji."

There were footsteps outside of the bathroom and Tamotsu's voice came through. "Keiko? Look, we're starting in five minutes, are you okay, cutie?"

He smiled. "Now, go out there and do your best. And if you need to blow chunks again, tell me, and I'll hold your hair for you."

Keiko giggled and wrapped her arms around him, hugging him quickly. "Thanks so much, Kouji."

He patted her back, awkwardly, not expecting the hug. "Don't mention it."

She grinned at him again before she stood up and headed towards the door. "Come on, Kouji. You need to pull the curtain, right?"

He nodded and walked out the door with her, where Tamotsu was standing. "You okay?" he asked.

She nodded. "Uh, anyone have gum?"

Kouji reached into his pocket and pulled out a pack. "Here."

Keiko smiled and took a piece, popping it into her mouth. "Thanks, Kouji."

"Hn."

Tamotsu tilted his head to the side. "You… can't chew gum during the play, Keiko," he said, running a hand through his hair.

"I know," the brunette said. "But I just want to be fresh." She looked over to Kouji and blinked twice. "Don't tell anyone," she whispered.

Kouji nodded and rolled his eyes at the teen.

"Well, let's run, cutie!" Tamotsu said, gripping her arm and running out towards stage, where the others were getting into their places. He looked back at Kouji, and for a moment, time slowed down when their acidic glares met. It was if it was in slow-motion when all at the same time, Tamotsu looked over to where his and Keiko's arms were connected and Kouji's lips curled up in a snarl. Tamotsu smirked and wrapped an arm around Keiko's waist, leading her to the stage.

Kouji felt as if somebody put lead in his stomach.

**

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**

Izumi walked over to the fake window, sighing. "I don't know what you see in that guy, anyway, Madoka. I mean, he's selfish and cold; all the girls are after him, too!"

"Gina," Keiko sighed. "He's sweet, and… well, you may not know it, but we have a whole lot in common." She looked down, a sad face overcoming her expression. "I thought I was in love with him, but now… I don't think he even wants me anymore. I just don't get it sometimes, Gina."

Izumi shook her head, crossing her arms over her chest and walking across the stage. "Madoka, I think you should forget about him. Forget about love. That's what I did!"

Keiko's brilliant eyes widened. "What? I can't just forget about love!"

"You can, Madoka!" Izumi yelled as the piano began to play it's tune. "_Forget about that guy, forget about the way you fell into his eyes. Forget about his charms, forget about the way you fell into his arms._

"_Walking on air's obnoxious…_" Izumi walked around then spun on one foot. "_The thrills!_" She dropped onto the bed with a hand over her forehead. _"The chills, will make you nauseous._" She sat back up and crossed her legs, pointing her toe. "_And you'll never get enough, just forget about love._"

The blonde stood back up and did a few dance steps across the room then dramatically pointed back over to Keiko. "_Forget about romance. Forget about the way your heart begins to dance." _She walked over to Keiko and pinched her cheek. "_Then you feel the blush…"_ She poked the brunette on the nose. "_When he's spouting out some sentimental mush._" She swayed side to side, holding her stomach. _Love really is revolting, it's even worse then when you're molting. Enough of this fluff!" _She raised a finger into the air._ "Just forget about-_"

Keiko began with her part, looking up to the sky as if in a dreamy state. "_I had almost forgotten the way it felt, when he held out his hand for mine._" She stuck her chest out and smiled. "_My heart all a-flutter._"

"Oh, how I shudder," Izumi sighed.

"_The first time we kissed._"

"_It won't be missed!_" Izumi walked back over to Keiko with her hands on her hips. "_Forget about his touch._"

"_I can't forget about his touch!_"

"_In the scheme of things it doesn't matter much._"

Keiko tilted her head to the side. _"It matters so mu-uch._"

"_You're better off alone, a meal becomes a banquet when you eat alone!_"

Keiko hummed the tune as Izumi plopped down next to her with crossed arms. This time they sang in harmony. _"Love's filled with compromises."_

Izumi stood up and gripped her hair as if in anger. _"And don't you hate those big surprises?_"

Keiko stood up and spun around, hugging a pillow to her chest. _"A cozy rendezvous._"

"Oh please," Izumi huffed.

"_Candlelight for two."_

"Oh jeez!" the blonde exclaimed.

"_You're calling my bluff!_" the brunette exclaimed, throwing the pillow into the air. _"I can't-"_

And the two sang the last line at the same time. _"Just forget about love."_

There was a knock on the bedroom door and Izumi answered, theatrically trying to close it again when Kouji was standing there, holding a single rose. "Madoka!" he exclaimed, his eyes wide.

"Minori?" Keiko replied.

Kouji ran over and placed his hands on the sides of her face. "Look, I'm sorry if I've been distant these past few days, I've just been-"

The brunette put a finger to his lips and smiled gently. "_I can't forget about my heart._"

"_I can't forget about my heart." _Kouji echoed.

"_Or how it felt to fall for you right from the start."_

"_I'm still falling…"_

"_Whatever we may do." _She stood up, wrapping her arms around his waist and pulling herself closer.

"_Whatever we may do."_

"_You'll be here for me and I'll be there for you."_

He kissed her on the forehead. _"I'll be there-"_

They pulled apart and walked to the front of the stage to sing to the audience, in harmony. _"To wish, to want, to wander, to find the sun through rain and thunder."_

Kouji faced Keiko and ran his finger along her cheek. _"A cozy rendezvous."_

"_Yes, please,"_ Keiko sang breathlessly, holding his hand in hers and squeezing it lightly.

He moved forward and touched foreheads and noses with her, holding onto the sides of her face. _"Candlelight for two."_

"Oh jeez!" Izumi squawked from the door, rolling her eyes and walking off the stage. "_Enough is enough!"_

"_We can't,"_ Keiko and Kouji sang together, moving closer. _"Forget about love!" _

And with that they brushed lips, Kouji wrapping his arms around her waist as the audience broke out into cheers. The curtains came down and the volunteers came out to move the props off of the stage. The two remained together, and Kouji pulled the brunette even closer.

"You guys can stop kissing, now," Tamotsu said from out of nowhere and Kouji pulled away, looking over towards the pissed off blonde. "The curtains came down."

Kouji snarled. "Fuck off, Tamotsu."

Tamotsu opened his mouth to reply, but Keiko interrupted. "Guys, don't fight. Let's just get ready for the next scene, okay?"

Kouji looked at Keiko nodding. He pulled his arms away and walked off of the stage, leaving Tamotsu and Keiko on the stage alone. "Tamotsu…" Keiko said softly.

The blonde leaned down and rolled a strand of her hair in his finger. "I'll make you forget."

Before Keiko could ask what the heck he meant, he kissed her on the lips, holding her steady when she wobbled from the sheer force of it. He traced her lips, but pulled away before the _real fun_ could begin. "We'll continue this later, cutie." He walked away.

There had never been a time in her life when Keiko felt so conflicted.

**

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**

"_I guess in a way,"_ Izumi sang, laying on the bed next to Takuya and smiling at him. _"You could say…"_ She leaned in and kissed the brunette on the lips lightly. _"You could say…"_

Takuya smiled and ran a finger over Izumi's lips. _"I'm in love."_

The curtain came down at that point and the actors and actresses came onto the stage in a rush as the volunteers cleared the floor for the grand finale. They were all dressed up and ready to perform.

The curtains were ripped back up and the audience cheered at the sudden appearance of the performers. Land of 1000 Dances began to blare on the stereo and the dancing began.

Every single step was executed with perfection and the audience was standing, clapping along with the music.

Michiko and Tamotsu walked up first, and after a few steps, he gripped the girl around the waist and lifted her into the air, letting her drop back into his arms. He kissed her and then skipped off to the side.

Kouji and Keiko came up next, and they opened up with the older teen behind the younger and pelvic thrusting three times, before they performed their first lift, which was pretty intricate. He took both of Keiko's hands and began with her facing him and arm's length away. Keiko jumped at the same time Kouji lifted her up and she spun in the air once before landing chest to chest with him and her legs wrapped around his hips. She flipped off and then the two of them did a couple of steps, before he spun her around and held her around the waist as she did a split and he lifted her back up and into his arms.

Takuya and Izumi came up, prepared to do the most difficult dance. They did a long array of dance moves, from spins to hip shakes. They did their lift and the triple cartwheel, and even more. He launched her off of his hands and she did a backflip off of him. She did splits and he did handsprings, showing off how talented the two of them were.

When the song was over, every single cast member was lined up at the front, taking their bows. The audience was in hysterics.

**

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**

"That was a great play, Keiko," Keiji said from the passenger seat of the car. "I didn't know you could sing."

Keiko hummed in response, perfectly comfortable from where she was curled up in Saburo's lap for the ride back to the house, which was twenty minutes away.

"Keiji, even _I _knew she could sing," Ayaka, one of Keiji's friends said from the backseat, next to Keiko. "And I think you did wonderfully."

Keiko mumbled a thanks and smiled serenely at the sound of Keiji and Ayaka arguing back and forth. "Jeez, why do I even like you?" Keiji exclaimed.

"Because I'm so awesome, obviously," Ayaka replied, laughing.

"Huh. Yeah, that sounds right." Keiji leaned back and smiled at the girl, who's face went red as she smiled back. "Pretty."

Keiko drifted off at that point, resting her head against her brother's shoulder as he stroked her hair and contributed to the conversation.

It was a good night overall. Except for when she puked her brains out. Two things in particular made her night go perfectly…

**

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**

**(1) **I'm only picking this song because it's a really vocal Japanese song… and they're Japanese…

**(2) **Yes, Gina _is _a Japanese name.

**(3) **The singing is in italics. :D

GirlsLikeeBoys won the number guessing contest, this time. So, she decided to interview Kouji-poo. Let's see some good guesses in this next batch of reviews! You never know what number I have in my mind!

1) Do you ever feel jealous of your brother?

K: Jealous of my brother? Well, in some ways, I guess. People treat Kouichi differently, especially in school. I mean, everybody thinks he's the nice twin and he's such a wonderful friend and everything, but I'm a good friend, too, you know? I'm not as open about things, but it's not like I'm a creep or something.

2) Do you think you were mad that Kouichi and Keiko dated?

K: I… I don't really know how I felt. Well, I didn't really care after a while, but in the beginning, when they first got together that one night… I don't know. I just felt like an ass for some reason. I don't know how to explain the way I was feeling, I just wanted to hit Kouichi, and I never feel that way about my brother, ever.

3) What are your feelings for Keiko and Izumi? Have they changed?

K: Uh, yes. I used to think Izumi was hot and cool and stuff, but now I'm starting to realize that she's nice and funny and things like that. I used to think shallowly of her, but now she's actually fun to be around. I feel differently about Keiko, too. Especially after what happened on the night of the play. There's a lot more to her than just her niceness and stuff. They're both cooler than I thought, you know?

4) How much does Takuya really mean to you? If you were gay, would you date him?

K: *Slaps hand over face* Oh my God… Takuya is my best friend. If I were gay, I don't know who the hell I'd go for, but I guess I would go for him, only because I would go for him rather than Junpei or Tomoki or Asashi or… *Shivers* _Tamotsu._

5) Do you ever miss the good old days in the Digital World, or is that all old news?

K: I guess in ways I miss it, but I'd rather be at home, where I don't have to wear the same outfit everyday and where I can bathe without getting dirt in my… Well, I guess I'm glad to be home, if you catch my drift.


	31. Things That Rhyme With Orange

Another chapter, friends. Please don't hurt me for this, by the way. D: Oh, just as a reminder, if you guess a number between one and ten, and it's the one I'm thinking, you get to ask any character you want five questions! It's an ongoing thing, you know. All of your reviews from last chapter were so amazing! Thank you all so much!

**Review replies for chapter 30:**

**PurpleViolin: **Well, well, I certainly made you happy. :D Don't feel bad, school's got me unhappy too. High school sucks. :P KouKei is numero uno once again? xD I thought you were a die hard TamoKei fan. Yeah, I hate when people mary sue their OC characters. I'm glad you noticed that I didn't want to make her like that! :D That made me smile a lot when you said you love Keiko, because I like her a little bit too. (Keikomuse: *Growls*) Tamotsu and Kouji act like catty gay men at times, it's like a holiday. xD TAKOUJI RULES?!? :D Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter.

**My-little-star: **I'm happy that you're happy! :D Hehe, such a fan of KouKei, I hope I don't stomp on your dreams in the next chapters. (Tamotsumuse: *Cheers*) Thank you so much for the review, I hope you like the next chapter! :D

**Empyrea: **I'm really happy that you thought it was all legit. :D I have zero experience with plays. Yeah, the interlude was pretty darn sad. D: But I have a plan for Keiko's sister. Well, not so much her sister, but the sister story… You know what I mean. xD Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter! :D

**Jennison Silvereye: **I'm so glad you liked it! :D Yeah, I think Izumi would be a good singer, and so would Takuya, because Yamato was a good singer in season 2 of Digimon, and those two have the same voice actors. xD Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter! :D

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **I think I replied enough to your anger in school, so here goes: THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DOOOOO! :D I know that you like Tamotsu, so don't try to hide it anymore. He appeals so much to you, that it's not even funny. I think Keiko's getting jealous of how much you adore that beautiful blonde guy. (Keikomuse: More like scared for his life.) Your review made me laugh, and I really appreciate the fact that you took the time to do it. I hope you don't hurt me for this next chapter. D:

**Caliboy: **Thank you so much! It was actually GirlsLikeeBoys' idea to make a play, but I was the one who wrote it out. I'm so glad you liked the chapter and I hope you like this too. Thanks for the review! :D

* * *

"Dad, please!" Takuya cried over the phone. "You have to come to this! It's the most important game of the year!"

"Stop moving, Takuya," Keiko grunted as she attempted to put war-paint on his cheeks.

"_I know, Takuya," _his father said on the phone. _"But I can't make traffic go any faster, right?"_

Takuya sighed. "Yeah, I know. Sorry."

"_It's alright. I'll be there as soon as I can. Talk to you later, okay?"_

"Alright, dad."

"_I love you."_

Takuya smiled a little bit. "I love you too, dad." He closed the phone and sighed softly.

"Don't hassle your dad so much," Michiko scolded from the side. "You'll stress him out."

"Yeah," Tamotsu agreed. "But at least you weren't mean to him. Just kinda needy…"

Takuya huffed, and Keiko growled again. "You can't keep moving," she sighed, licking her finger and wiping a smudge on his cheek she made on accident. "You're so twitchy."

Takuya rolled his eyes and cringed when her wet finger wiped over his cheek. "You're so maternal."

"Not," Keiko said, pulling away when she finished. "You want some too, Tamotsu?"

"Sure, cutie," he said, smirking.

The brunette nodded, and with concentration, she drew a line going across each cheek. Tamotsu kept an eye on the adorable face she was making as she tried to make the lines completely straight. "Okay, all done," she said, smiling to herself.

Tamotsu put a hand on the back of her neck and held her close. "Well, Keiko. If you wanted to kiss me, you could have just said so."

The brunette gawked and pulled herself away, accidentally bumping the back of her head against somebody. "Oh, I'm sorry!" She spun around and her eyes widened as she saw Kouji standing there with a hand over his nose and Kouichi holding onto his arm. Their other three friends were there, too, staring at the spectacle.

"I'm sorry, Kouji!" Keiko exclaimed, gripping the boy's wrists and pulling them away from his nose. "It's not bleeding… Do you want some ice."

"Yeah, we don't want you to ruin that pretty face," Tamotsu muttered low enough for only him and Michiko to hear, and the auburn haired girl glared at him.

"I'm fine," Kouji muttered. "Don't worry about it."

"Sorry," Keiko sighed again.

"We just came over to say good luck, and we know you'll all do great!" Junpei said, smiling. "You can beat this team, we know it."

"Thanks, Junpei," Takuya said, grinning.

"As long as Keiko doesn't get herself punched in the face again, we'll probably stand a chance," Tamotsu said, smiling.

Keiko spun around and glared at him. The blonde shivered, he had never gotten a Keiko-glare. "It wasn't my fault," she hissed.

The whistle blew and everybody began to take their seats. "We'd better get going," Tomoki said. "Good luck everybody!"

The five headed back to their seats. "We have to go back to our bench," Michiko said. "Well, wish us luck!"

"Good luck," the boys said in unison and the girls went with their team.

The girls played first and it was an easily won game overall. They ended up winning 3-1, and they only lost four games in their season, which was a wonderful record for them. Takuya seemed antsy the entire time, scanning the stands for his father, who had yet to show up. He already knew his mother and Shinya were unable to come, because Shinya had an important school function that night.

The boys were going on next, and Takuya was seething with anger. His dad wasn't here, and this was the biggest game of the year!

The entire game had the audience on the edge of their seats. Both teams were amazing, aggressive and skilled. Every time it seemed as if a goal would be scored, it would get reversed at the last minute.

It wasn't until the last quarter that the team got their plan: Pass the ball to Takuya, and let the brunette score.

Takuya seemed nervous, but at the same time extremely pumped that he would be playing a huge role in their championship game.

As he ran down the field, one of the second year players kicked the ball over to him, high through the air and he knocked it into the goal with his head just as the last five seconds showed on the clock. The crowd went absolutely wild, and the first thing the brunette did was look to his right and towards the spectators, looking for his dad.

There he was, standing next to Kouji, looking happier than anything. Takuya gave the man a thumbs up and a grin, and his father smiled and gave him a thumbs up as well.

The whole team came up and engulfed him in a giant hug, cheering and whooping at the fact that they were now champions.

When all had settled, Takuya made his way to Kouji, who was standing with his twin. "Hey, guys," the brunette said, smiling.

"Great job, Takuya!" Kouichi exclaimed. "You did so well!"

"Good job," Kouji added.

"Thanks a lot, guys," Takuya said sheepishly. "Uh, did you see where my dad went?"

"We didn't see him," Kouichi said, blinking twice. "Why, did you see him somewhere?"

"Yeah," Takuya replied, looking at Kouji. "He was standing right next to you."

Kouji furrowed his brows. "No he wasn't, Takuya."

"Yeah he was!" Takuya cried. "Didn't you see him?"

"No, Takuya. Nobody was next to me," he said slowly. "It was an empty seat."

"He was there-"

There was a buzzing from Takuya's bag and the brunette kneeled down to go through his bag. He pulled out his cell phone and answered it. "Mom?"

He stared at the ground for a moment as she spoke to him, and he closed the phone shakily. "Kouji?"

"Hn?"

"Can you bring me to the hospital? Something's wrong."

**

* * *

**

Kouji sat alone in the waiting room. Kouichi ended up leaving with Keiko and his father had to go to work for an emergency. So the blue eyed boy sat alone for hours, waiting for news from his friend.

He sat for five hours, and at three in the morning, the brunette staggered out, looking dazed and red eyed. Kouji stared as he walked over and sat down next to him, staring straight forward. "Can I spend the night with you?" he asked.

Kouji nodded. "Is everything okay?"

Takuya took in a shaky breath and shook his head. "No. It's not." He turned his head and looked to the raven. "My dad's dead."

Kouji felt shock overcome his entire body and his eyes widened. "Oh, God, Takuya. Shit, I'm so-"

Takuya shook his head. "I know you are."

"I'll call my dad," Kouji said quickly, taking out his cell phone. After trying to call several times, nobody answered the phone, and Kouji suspected that his father and his wife were either sleeping, or doing… other activities.

So he called Keiko, knowing that she had access to a few people that could bring her to the hospital to pick them up. "_Hello?_" she rasped tiredly.

"Keiko, it's Kouji, listen, I need a ride home from the hospital."

"_Hm, why, Kou?"_

"I can't get a ride, and me and Takuya aren't going to walk home. His dad died."

"_What?"_

"Can you come?"

"_I'll be there in ten minutes tops, okay?"_

"Thanks, Keiko."

After he hung up the phone, he looked over to Takuya, who had the same blank expression on his face. "Keiko's going to pick us up, okay?"

The brunette nodded.

"Why aren't you staying at your house?"

"Because I don't want to be around my mom and Shinya right now. I think that they'll…" His voice got choked up with emotion and he couldn't finish his sentence.

"It's alright," Kouji said softly. "I understand."

After ten minutes of complete silence, Keiko walked into the hospital, looking tired and somewhat stressed out. "Ready?"

Kouji nodded and coaxed Takuya along with him to her brother's car. Keiji was in the driver's seat and Ayaka was in the passenger, looking back with sadness in her expression.

They drove in silence, until Kouji realized that his key was missing. "Keiji?"

"Yeah."

"I left my key at the school…"

The dark haired boy shrugged. "You guys can take a guest room at my house. I'm sure Saburo wouldn't mind lending you all some clothes. You're about the same size. Do you need anything at your house, Takuya?"

"No," the brunette mumbled softly.

**

* * *

**

Keiko walked through the house with the boys in tow, opening a door to what was a beautifully furnished bedroom. The bedspread was red and gold, as was the room; apparently they themed it to be this way. There was a large TV on the wall and a bathroom connected.

"You two can stay here tonight, it might be a little dusty, we haven't used this room in a while," she said, allowing the two to walk into the room.

The boys were already dressed in the pajamas that Keiko had gotten from the laundry room for them and Takuya immediately curled up into the sheets.

Kouji turned towards Keiko, who looked extremely sympathetic. "Thank you," he said softly, nodding to the younger teen.

"You don't have to say thank you," she said, looking back over to the brunette in the sheets. "Just… Take care of him, okay?"

"I will," he said.

"Um, we usually have breakfast at ten on Saturdays, so you can come down if you want, but don't feel obligated. You can sleep in," she said, running a hand through her hair.

"I'll see how I feel in the morning," he said. He looked back to where Takuya was, then he walked out into the hallway with Keiko, shutting the door. "And how he feels. I don't know about him."

"It's okay," Keiko assured him. "I understand how he would feel about being around people after something like that."

Kouji nodded and sighed. "Just… After the game he asked where his dad was, and I told him I didn't see him. But he told me that he saw his dad standing right next to me, smiling at him and giving him a thumbs up."

Keiko's eyes widened. "Oh, God."

"I know," Kouji replied. "I know…"

"I…" the brunette looked down for a moment. "I, um…"

"Go ahead," he said. "What?"

"When my parents died, I was standing outside the house and talking to Saburo. We were saying how much we missed when dad would dive off of the diving board and mom would just laugh," she said. She took a deep breath. "Right after I said that, there was a splash in the pool, right where the diving board was, and the sound of laughter."

Kouji's eyebrows raised.

"I think that when people die, they have a way to show you that they're alright," she said softly, looking up to him self-consciously. "Maybe that's what Takuya saw."

Kouji nodded. "I think you're right."

Keiko nodded. "Takuya probably needs you now," she said softly. "More than anything, Kouji. He's staying with you for a reason."

Kouji nodded. "I know."

"I'm gonna go to bed now," she said. "Make sure he's okay."

"I will. Goodnight, Keiko. And thank you."

She smiled at him. "I'll see you in the morning."

Kouji nodded and walked into the guest room, where Takuya was sitting up in bed, cross-legged with his fists clenched in his lap. Tears were dripping onto his cheeks and he was sobbing softly.

"Takuya," Kouji sighed, walking over to the bed and sitting on it. "Takuya..."

The brunette looked up to him with one of the saddest expressions that the raven would ever see in his life. "Kouji…"

And he took the boy into his arms, allowing Takuya an outlet for which to let out his sorrow and pain.

**

* * *

**

When Kouji woke up in the morning, Takuya was curled up into his chest sleeping soundly. The raven sat up in bed, causing the brunette to roll off of him, and looked around blearily. He didn't realize where he was at first, then reality hit him and he remembered all that had happened. He turned and looked over to the clock on the bedside table, seeing that it was quarter after ten.

He dragged himself out of bed and headed downstairs, where there was the sound of talking and clinking silverware. The blue eyed boy walked into the kitchen where Keiko and her brothers were seated, as well as Ayaka, who was one of Keiji's good friends. The television sitting above the fireplace was showing the morning news and the people at the table were listening to it, but talking at the same time.

"Turn on the Saturday morning cartoons," Keiji suggested, grabbing the remote and trying to wrestle it from Naoki's grip.

"No, Keiji. I want to see the news!"

"I want to see the cartoons!" Saburo agreed, getting next to Keiji and trying to pull the channel changer away from the eldest brother.

"Good morning, Kouji," Ayaka said from the stove, smiling as the boy stared at the spectacle of two grown adults and a teenager fighting for the right of cartoons. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yeah," he said softly, sitting in the seat next to Keiko.

"Do you like pancakes with chocolate chips? Or would you rather have blueberries?"

"I'll have blueberries, please," he said politely.

"Okay, just give me a minute," the light brown haired girl said as she poured more batter onto the pan.

"Ayaka's become the domestic person in the house," Keiko said as she cut out a piece of pancake with her fork. "It used to be my job to cook everything."

Kouji raised his eyebrows. "Things are changing, huh?"

Keiko nodded. "Yeah, they are."

A plate of steaming pancakes were set in front of Kouji and Ayaka even poured him some tea. "Thank you," he said, smiling a little bit.

He dug right into them, he was even hungrier than he had thought. Keiko just watched the TV blankly, seeming like she had nothing else to do on the chilly November morning.

"Is Takuya okay?" she asked hesitantly, looking over to Kouji.

He nodded. "He's a little bit better, just a little bit frazzled… I'm sure you understand."

"I do," Keiko replied. "Was he still asleep when you came down here?"

Kouji nodded. "Yep. I don't think he's going to wake up for a while. Do you care if I stick around until he does?"

"I don't mind," the brunette replied. "Make sure you call your dad, though. Let him know you spent the night here."

"I left a message on his phone last night," Kouji said. "I'm sure he knows."

"Okay," Keiko said, yawning and standing up, shaking her head as he brothers continued to argue over the TV. "Guys, stop acting like barbarians! There's more than one TV in the house, you know."

Saburo looked up to her. "Never really thought of that."

"Of course you didn't," Keiko sighed. "Come on, Kouji, let's go upstairs and watch TV until Takuya wakes up."

**

* * *

**

Takuya awoke at five in the evening, and by that time, the others were there too. They had all settled in the living room and were talking about the events of the night before. The bleary eyed brunette looked around with exhausted eyes and everybody was completely silent.

"What time is it?" he croaked.

"Five sixteen," Keiko said, glancing at her phone. "You slept for a long time…"

Takuya nodded and plopped himself next to Kouji, blinking.

"How do you feel?" his best friend asked, turning to look at him.

"I have a headache," Takuya said. "I'm in a little bit of disbelief and I feel a little bit anxious, and I don't know why, because nothing's going on besides… I just don't know why."

"I'm sorry about what happened," Izumi said cautiously.

The brunette looked at her with bloodshot eyes. He didn't say anything, he just stared before turning and looking back down into his lap.

"Takuya?" Tomoki asked softly. Takuya seemed completely distressed, more than usual. Tomoki knew what happened, but he had never seen his idol look so down before.

"If I hadn't told him to hurry up and get here, maybe he wouldn't have lost control of his car and died," he said, smiling bitterly. "Maybe I would be at home, playing catch with my dad in the back yard."

"Takuya," Junpei said softly, sighing.

"Maybe he would be messing around with Shinya," he said. "Or maybe he and mom would be dancing in the living room to their favorite songs."

"Takuya, don't-" Kouichi tried.

"Maybe he would be **alive** if I hadn't told him to speed up and get to the game," Takuya added.

"Knock it off, Takuya!" Kouji yelled.

That was when the brunette snapped. "Don't tell me when to knock it off!" he yelled, standing up. "None of you are feeling what I'm feeling! You don't know what it's like to lose your father! None of you care about how I feel! I fucking hate you all!"

Keiko looked a little bit emotional for some reason. "How can you say that, Takuya? We've always cared about you."

"You _don't_ care!" he yelled. "You've never cared! Don't act like you're the caring, kind person, Keiko! I hate when you do that!"

"Takuya!" Kouji yelled, grabbing his shoulder. "What the hell's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me? My father _**died, **_that's what's wrong with me! Do you not realize that?" he yelled. Footsteps were heard down the hall as the brunette's voice raised in volume. "Do you?" He smacked Kouji's hand off of his shoulder and pushed him. "Tell me, do you?"

"Takuya," Izumi cried.

"Do you?" he asked again, shoving Kouji back into the table. "Tell me!"

An hand grabbed Takuya's arm and he was dragged back. He looked up to see Keiji, who looked completely enraged. "Let's go. Now."

He pulled Takuya out of the room and slammed the door, bringing him down the hall and into a bedroom, which was most likely his. He roughly pushed Takuya onto the bed and sat down on the chair on the other side of the room.

There was dead silence in the room, and Takuya looked nervous, upset and embarrassed.

"I was your age when my father died," Keiji said.

Takuya looked up, his chocolate eyes round. "What?"

"I was sitting at home, waiting for my parents to come back from Paris with my sister." He laughed. "I had told them to switch flights to come home earlier, because I wanted them to come to my lacrosse game the next night. We got a phone call, and well…" He waved his hand. "The rest is history." Keiji twiddled his thumbs. "I felt like it was all my fault, you know? If I hadn't told them to hurry up and switch airlines, we wouldn't be in a situation like this. Hell, I wouldn't even be having this conversation with you."

"How…" Takuya cleared his throat. "How did you get over it?"

"It wasn't easy," Keiji replied. "I mean, things like that don't blow over that fast."

"But, how-"

"Live," the dark haired young adult said. "Live your life to the fullest, because he can't."

**

* * *

**

Takuya had only been to a funeral twice in his life before now. One time he had been there for his grandmother, another was for a colleague of his father's. He had never realized how fast they went by, or how much pain they caused. But, within the pain there was a strange sense of closure.

Of course, it was such uncomfortable, standing there and trying to be stoic when he was standing over his father's casket, which wasn't open because of the gravity of his injuries.

It had been three days since he had flipped out on Kouji and the others, and he felt sincerely sorry about it; his friends had all accepted his apology. He had found himself gravitating towards Kouji more so than usual. When he asked Keiko why she thought it was, she suggested that he needed somebody who was stable throughout the storm of his life.

He understood her reasoning; he didn't want to be comforted by his mother, because she was probably more upset than he was, and his brother was upset too, so if Takuya needed a shoulder to cry on for a while, Shinya would just cry as well.

He went to Keiji for advice as well, because after he had told Takuya what had happened in the situation with his parents, he had found himself going back to the man for help when needed.

All of his friends had shown up for the funeral, each of them dressed in appropriate attire, black suits and black dresses. It was a little bit depressing to see black everywhere, but it was all for a reason.

When the funeral was over, Takuya had to stand there during the cremation, uncomfortable and sad. But somehow, he felt better. This would take a long time to get over, but he knew that this is how life is, you live, and you die.

And the closure he received almost made him smile.

**

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**

Well, well… Please don't kill me? Ahaha… Oh…

Reviews make me update faster, so, you know, review? :D

The winner for the interviewing game was Sydneybell24 (whose a little bit sketchy xD). She decided to interview Tamotsu. Warning: Violent questions and crack.

1. Why are you such a jerk?

T: *Eyes widen* Uh, I didn't really know I was a jerk, so I guess I can't really answer that question, huh?

2. What was going through your mind when Kouji kissed Keiko during the play?

T: I guess that I felt mad and a little bit sad. I mean, I've always liked Keiko, and it hurts to see her with this person that I don't think cares about her. I wanted to beat the hell out of Kouji, to sum it all up.

3. Why don't you like Kouji?

T: *Sighs* Because he's an arrogant jerk. I don't like Kouji, because he treats girls like they're toys and he acts like he's better than everyone else. Sometimes, I think he's like the freshman bicycle. Everyone gets a ride.

4. What is it about Keiko that you like so much?

T: *Smiles* I don't know what it is, sometimes. I think it's the way she acts. She's so adorable, everything she does is just too cute. Her smiles, the facial expressions she gets when she's confused, the way she eats, sleeps… She takes me away more and more every day.

5. *pulls out knife* Can I kill you?

T: Uh, no. If I'm going to die, it's going to be epic and in the fic and not by a reviewer as crazy as you. Sorry.


	32. It's Dangerous Business

**Review replies for chapter 31 (Sorry if they're short, but I'm exhausted…):**

**My-little-star:** Yeah, poor Takky. D: I feel bad for him, too. Hmm, I think I'm beginning to get the vibe that I've somehow started a Kouji vs. Tamotsu kind of thing. xD Oops! Thanks for the review! :D

**GirlsLikeeBoys**: You disgust me. I'm going to drop kick you. Sydney's questions were ruthless, don't encourage it! D: Thanks for the review, asshole.

**Celestial Writer: **Don't worry about it! I'm just happy you're still alive! :D Another KouKei fan. xD I don't know what I'm going to do with you all. Seriously. I'm really happy you're back! I was pretty down that you disappeared for so long, I mean, you're THE reviewer! Thanks so much for the review! :D

**Jennison Silverye: **Thank you very much. :D Yeah, Tamotsu's got issues with Kouji, and the authoress with demonstrate even more of that in this chapter! :D Thank you so much for reviewing, hope you like the next chapter! :D

**Caliboy: **xD Sorry about that. Haha, ironic that you ask this question, because I was planning on this next chapter to incorporate those guys. Thank you so much for the review!

**Empyrea: ***Pats on back* Don't cry! You'll make me cry! D: Ironic that you should ask that question now, because in this next chapter, you'll find out. Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you like the chapter!

**PurpleViolin: **Nooo! Don't cry! *Hugs* xD You're stuck between those couples, huh? I think I've accidentally caused everybody else to have like, this Tamotsu vs. Kouji complex. It's not good. Hmmm, Junpei not walking again… Hmmm… Don't worry, I'm not that sadistic! xD Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter!

**

* * *

**

"Takuya?"

Said brunette turned his head and looked over towards the blonde who had called his name. "Yeah?"

"It's been over a month now, right?" Izumi asked hesitantly.

Takuya looked at his lap and nodded, sighing softly. He stared at his breath for a moment as it rose up; it was really starting to get cold in Shibuya. The others were off in groups, shopping for Christmas gifts. Izumi and Takuya were the first ones done, and were waiting on the bench by their meeting spot.

"I'm sorry," the blonde said with a sigh. "I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine, Izumi," Takuya reassured her. "It's okay to talk about it now, you know. I think I've accepted it."

Izumi huffed. "You say that you _think _you've accepted it. If you're not ready to talk, then we don't have to."

"It's not that I don't want to talk about it," he replied. "I just haven't talked to anyone about it besides Keiji and Kouji."

"Really?" Izumi asked incredulously. "You haven't talked to your mom or Shinya about you dad?"

"Not really," he sighed. "We've all stayed quiet about it. It helps the ache."

"Oh," Izumi said. "I just thought… Well… Hey, what did you end up getting for everybody?"

Takuya smiled and lifted his bags onto his lap. "I got Junpei running gloves, because apparently that's his new thing, I got Tomoki a soccer ball, autographed by yours truly." Izumi grinned. "Asashi, Michiko and Tamotsu all got gift cards, I'm not telling what I got you… I bought Kouichi a movie and I got Keiko and Kouji and myself necklaces."

"Ah, you got them both necklaces, and one for yourself too? And I didn't get one?" she huffed, playfully.

"In the past month or so, those two have been there for me more than anybody. I guess… I guess that those necklaces kind of stand as a permanent thank you that they'll always remember and have with them."

"Takuya," Izumi said, her eyes glassy. "That's… That's just so _sweet._" _'Wow, he's changed.'_

Takuya's face changed to pink. "Yeah, well don't go telling anybody about it. I don't want you all to think I'm going soft."

Izumi smiled. "Deal."

"Hey guys!"

The pair looked up and over to where Tamotsu and Keiko were walking over, bags filling their arms. The brunette had a small pouch of _Hello Pandas _in her hand, and she was happily munching on the little crackers filled with cream. "Get anything good?" she asked, smiling brightly.

"Cute!" Izumi cried, jumping off the bench and tackling the girl into the snow. "You're just too cute!"

"Oww! Izumi! You're crushing me with your big boobs!" Keiko wailed from below, struggling to get the blonde off of her. "ZUMIIII!"

Izumi huffed and stood up, glaring as Keiko got back up. "Very thoughtless, Keiko," she snapped. "Very, very, thoughtless."

Keiko sat up and then gasped as she saw the small panda cookies littering the snow. "No! My _Hello Pandas _all fell out of the bag!"

"Sorry," Izumi laughed, helping the slightly smaller girl up. "Didn't mean to ruin your dreams of delicious _Hello Panda _cookies."

"You're so mean," Keiko pouted, sitting on the bench next to Takuya and Tamotsu. "You're buying me a new pouch."

"Whatever, Keiko. Aha, you're so- EEK!" Suddenly an arm wrapped around the blonde's waist and she was lifted off the ground. "No!" she wailed.

Whoever had been holding her let her back down, and she spun around, sighing in relief when it was only Asashi. "Babe… You scared me."

"Sorry," he said with a smile. He leaned in a gave her a quick kiss on the lips. "Didn't know you were constantly paranoid."

It still shocked everybody that Izumi had gotten the nerve to ask Asashi out. She had been extremely awkward around him for a week, until she suddenly launched herself at him during lunch and made out with him in a way that some of the people at the table thought was illegal. They had now been going out for a grand total of three weeks, a prospect that Izumi was extremely happy about.

"I'm not _constantly _paranoid," Izumi said, pouting.

"You are, though," another voice said. They turned to see Kouji and Tomoki walking over to them. It was Tomoki who had said that.

"You brat!" Izumi snapped. "I'm not-"

A sudden scream echoed through the streets and suddenly, the crowd of people around them was running away, all in one direction. "What's going on?" Keiko cried, gripping Takuya's arm, trying to keep together with him even with the ocean of people smashing into them.

"I don't know!" he replied. "But I have a bad feeling about it!"

"Anima!" Rainbow clouds that burned the sides of buildings spread across the streets.

"It's the Demon Lords!" Takuya cried. He touched the tattoo on his bicep unconsciously. "Why do they have to do this now?"

"Demon Lords?" Asashi cried. "What-" His eye twitched and he dropped onto Tamotsu, who draped him onto his back. He had pushed his finger into a pressure point somehow.

"I'll take care of Asashi, here. Why don't you all take care of these guys?" He waved and ran off.

"Alright, guys," Takuya said. "Let's do this."

In unison, they all changed into their merged forms. Just as they finished, all seven of the Demon Lords appeared, all lined up, ready for a fight.

"Where's Junpei and Kouichi?" Keiko whispered softly.

"Shadow meteor!"

Snow flew up into the air, right in front the Demon Lords, and Junpei and Kouichi, both evolved landed right in front of them.

"Attack now," Lucemon instructed them, boredom evident in his voice, and everybody but himself attacked their respective rivals.

Kouji's eyes narrowed slightly as Beelzemon ran towards him at breakneck speeds, preparing to punch him. He whipped his hands to his sides and his light swords appeared in his hands. He jumped into the air and stabbed Beelzemon in the back, jumping off right after and landing in the snow.

Beelzemon yelled out and clutched his back, growling and withdrawing his gun. This would be harder than he thought.

"Crimson flame!" Barbamon yelled, and flames wrapped around Keiko on all sides, closing in more and more.

The brunette-turned-blonde dug her feet into the ground and swung both hands out, causing the fire to sputter out with a mighty gust of wind. When in all cleared, she was shocked to see that Barbamon was gone, but she looked up and saw that he was coming down, ready to smash her into the ground with a kick.

Keiko flipped backwards and slid across the snow, slightly, clutching it with her hand in order to slow down. "Love shot!" she yelled and sent in arrow into Barbamon's shoulder.

Daemon bared his teeth, then dashed at Kouichi. "Slash nail!" Nails shone on it's hand and he swiped them at the teen.

Kouichi ducked down, leg sweeping Daemon, then jumping backwards. He put his hands together and closed his eyes, gritting his teeth. "Shadow meteor!" A black ball of darkness appeared in his hands and he sent it straight into Daemon, causing him to cry out.

"Huricane wave!" Izumi yelled, sending whipping winds towards Lilithmon, who sidestepped, then slashed her nails at Izumi.

The lavenderette concaved her stomach in order to only get a small scratch through her outfit. "Ooh! You're gonna pay for that! Tempest twist!" She spun on her hands and kicked Lilithmon, sending her into the snow. "Haha!"

Junpei gawked as his giant opponent began to fly into the air, his chains becoming red. He took a deep breath and flew into the air, clenching his fist, which began to surround itself with lightning. "Thunder fist!" He smashed his fist into Belphemon's face, causing him to roar and slam back into the ground.

"Lightning blitz!" Pulling both of his hands back into the air, Junpei slammed both of his fists into his stomach, causing him to yell out again, sending shockwaves through the city.

Tomoki got into a fighting stance and leapt at Leviamon. "Blizzard blaster!" He shot snowballs at the dragon-like Digimon and it hissed at him.

"Rostrum!" Leviamon snarled, snapping his jaws at Tomoki.

The brunette reciprocated immediately. "Frozen tundra!" A giant icicle appeared in his hands and he speared Leviamon with it.

Takuya growled and ran up to Lucemon, throwing a punch at him. "Why aren't you trying to fight me?" he yelled when the Digimon did absolutely nothing in return.

"Because I'm busy observing," Lucemon replied, glaring. "Now move it."

"No!" Takuya yelled, sending a punch into his stomach. This time, Lucemon bent slightly with pain. "Tell me what you're observing!"

Lucemon punched Takuya hard in the chin, sending him up into the air. "You think we're using our full power here?" he asked, flying up to him and kicking him back into the ground. "You think that you're all strong enough to beat us? You think we're all actually trying?"

He landed back on the ground, lifting Takuya's bruised and battered face. "You're wrong, my friend. We just wanted a chance to test out your new merged spirits." He smiled. "And I think we should all be ending our fights now."

Suddenly Izumi rolled by in the snow, groaning and holding the side of her face and then Tomoki landed right next to her, clutching his chest.

"Izumi, Tomoki!" Keiko cried, running over to the blonde and the brunette. Barbamon punched the back of her head, causing her to fall face first into the snow. Beelzemon sighed, realizing that the fight was ending and he smacked Kouji across the face with his gun.

Belphemon knocked Junpei into Kouichi, sending them both into a tree and then back into the ground.

"See how easy it was?" Lucemon asked. "Don't you ever underestimate us again, got it?"

Takuya just grunted, trying to get up as Lucemon walked into a dark portal, the others following just as serenely.

**

* * *

**

"I don't think that you should talk to Keiko anymore."

Kouji's eyes widened as Tamotsu stood in front of him with his arms crossed in front of his chest. He had pulled the raven haired boy out of the basement, where they were all watching movies, and into the front yard, to say something to him.

"Excuse me?" Kouji snapped, glaring at the blonde. "What the hell do you mean by that?"

"Don't talk to Keiko anymore," Tamotsu repeated. "I see the way you look at her. Stay away, you'll just hurt her like you do to all the other girls you're fucking around with."

"What?" he yelled. "Just because you're completely obsessed with her and she might be showing a smidgen of interest in me, you say that I'm not allowed to talk her?"

"You're an asshole." Tamotsu smiled. "And I'm worried that you'll turn _her _into an asshole. You know what I mean?"

Kouji's eye twitched and before he knew what had happened, his fist connected with the side of the blonde's face. "I've had just about enough of you!" he yelled.

Tamotsu wiped the blood off of his face, then he jumped at Kouji, and the two of them began to deliver punches and kicks to each other. Nobody had even know what was going on, until Keiko and Asashi decided to go upstairs and get refills on popcorn. They had decided to check on them on their way to the kitchen.

"Kouji! Tamotsu! Stop!" Keiko yelled, running over to them.

"Keiko, wait!" Asashi yelled, trying to catch the brunette before she ran into the fight.

Keiko grabbed the back of Kouji's shirt and dragged him backwards, while Asashi grabbed Tamotsu's arm and pinned him to the front of the house. "What the hell's wrong with you?" Asashi yelled, gripping Tamotsu's chin and forcing him to look him in the eyes. "Damn it, Tamotsu. You have a black eye. How are you gonna explain that to your dad."

Tamotsu averted his eyes, spitting to the side; it was completely red. "I'll figure it out."

"I'm gonna bring Kouji upstairs to go clean him up," Keiko said as she dragged Kouji to his feet. "You wanna take care of Tamotsu?"

Asashi nodded. "Yeah, is the bathroom downstairs okay?"

"Yeah," Keiko replied. "There's a first aid kit underneath the sink." She looked back at Kouji. "Idiot," she huffed.

Kouji smirked at her, and the two waited until Asashi and Tamotsu got back into the house. That's when Keiko got _really _mad.

"Idiot!" Keiko screamed again as she dragged Kouji up the stairs by his arm, towards the bathroom. "You fucking _ass! _Why would you do that?"

Kouji shrugged and winced when the brunette pushed him into the toilet seat and stomped to the cabinets. "Bastard, bastard, bastard…"

She pulled out a bottle of rubbing alcohol, bandages and cotton balls. "Be still, asshole. I'm gonna patch you up."

"At least I've upgraded from bastard," Kouji said, smirking.

Keiko snarled and smacked him over the head with the bottle of rubbing alcohol. "Shut the hell up, asshole!" She sighed as she kneeled down, starting at his split lip.

She pushed a cotton ball splashed with the alcohol and held it against his lip. He hissed and his face contorted with pain. "Sorry."

"I thought you were going to be mean," Kouji teased.

Keiko's nose wrinkled. "I will if that's what you _want_."

Kouji shut his mouth. Next, Keiko went about cleaning the cuts on his face, arms and knees, where he had skidded across the sidewalk. He was almost completely covered in band-aids. She looked at him for a moment before sighing, turning to wash her hands.

"I noticed that you decided to patch me up, rather than Tamotsu," Kouji said, suddenly.

She didn't even turn around, she just stiffened. "So?"

"You like me more."

"No, Kouji. Don't you start with that."

"Why? Because it's true?"

"Kouji, just-"

Keiko's eyes widened when she felt a body against her back. Kouji's hands rested against the sink and his cheek pressed against her own. "Because it's true."

Keiko stared at the water, which was splashing all around in the sink. Her heart rate began to speed up, and she felt her arms quake. Kouji pressed even closer, lightly brushing Keiko's cheek with his nose. "Tell me what you want, Keiko."

Keiko's brain scrambled to figure out what she wanted most right now. What _did _she want? Kouji? Tamotsu? A kiss?

"Kouji…" she said softly.

"Tell me," Kouji whispered again, running his lips over the shell of her ear. "Tell me what you want."

"I want…"

"Say it," he coaxed.

"I want you to sit back down on the toilet seat so that I can take care of your knee," she said.

She felt Kouji's eyelashes lower, then raise again. "Whatever you want." He pulled away and sat back down, staring at the slender brunette standing at the sink.

She stood still for a moment, staring at the water again, her eyes unblinking, her mouth pressed into a line. "Keiko?"

"What?"

"You wanted this," he said. "So do it." He grazed her leg with his toe. "It _is _what you want, right?"

"I really like you, Kouji," Keiko said softly.

The blue eyed boy blinked, taken aback by her sudden confession. He stood back up, slowly.

"Don't," Keiko said quickly, and Kouji simply sat back on the toilet seat, even more confused than before.

The brunette took a deep breath. "I won't let myself be hurt by you, again." She clutched the sink tighter. "I-Is this what you do to all of the girls you hook up with, and then break their hearts? Is it?"

"You're different," Kouji said.

She shook her head. "I bet you've said that to them, at some point." Keiko looked at herself in the mirror. "I won't let you treat me like a hookup, Kouji. I'm not going to be one of those girls."

"Keiko-"

"Kouichi, he told me about what happened that night, and he's told me about the occasions where you would come home wasted, with hickeys all over your neck. He told me that you wouldn't care if you did the same thing to me or Izumi."

Kouji's eyes widened. "No, Keiko, that was different, then, because-"

"It's different because I know about it now. I don't want excuses, Kouji." She sighed. "I really like you, but I really like Tamotsu, too. But the difference between the two of you is…" Her hands clenched against the sink even tighter. "The difference between you is that I don't think that Tamotsu would use me, or just try to get with me to hook up."

She paused and turned around to look at him for the first time since she began speaking. "Tamotsu actually _likes _me."

Kouji stared at Keiko for a while, eyes wide, Keiko's eyes averted towards the ground. "I feel like… like it's not the same for you."

Kouji looked at the ground, before looking back to Keiko. "Maybe you're right. Maybe that is all I wanted."

Keiko stared back down into the sink, closing her eyes. "Kouji…"

"Thank you for helping me clean up, Keiko." He stood up from the toilet seat. "You're a very good friend. I'll see you in school Monday. Goodnight." He walked out of the bathroom and out of her bedroom. Seconds later, the front door closed.

Keiko sighed shakily and sank back down, putting her hands over her eyes and not moving for a long, long time.

**

* * *

**

Izumi gawked when Tamotsu and Asashi came back downstairs. "What happened?" she cried, standing up and grabbing Asashi's arm. "Where'd Kouji and Keiko go?"

"Keiko's up in her room," Asashi said, taking out his phone. "But I heard Kouji go out through the front door. I don't know why, though."

"Because I kicked his ass," Tamotsu muttered.

"I'm gonna go get Kouji," Kouichi said. "Tell Keiko I say thank you for everything. He climbed up the stairs and headed out the front door, calling his brother's name.

"I think I'm gonna take Tamotsu home now," Asashi informed his girlfriend, fingering her hair for a moment. "I'm sorry, but I don't think he should stick around for much longer."

"Don't apologize to me," Izumi sighed. "Just get home safely."

Asashi smiled and kissed her lightly. "I will, don't worry." He dialed a number on the phone and spoke to his father for a moment, before hanging up the phone. "He'll be here in a few minutes, we live in the same area as Keiko…"

Izumi nodded. "Okay."

"What happened?" Takuya asked, staring at Tamotsu in his current condition.

"Did Kouji beat your ass, or what, Tamotsu?" Michiko asked, huffing. "Asashi, would you bring me home too?"

"Yeah," Asashi replied, nodding.

"Did you and Kouji get into a fight, Tamotsu?" Tomoki asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Yeah," Tamotsu replied lowly. "And it would probably still be going on if Asashi, here, didn't try to stop it."

"Shut the hell up, Tamotsu," Asashi snarled. "I'm serious."

"Don't tell me what to do," the blonde said quietly, and Asashi pretended that he didn't hear it.

"Jeez, guys, why do you two hate each other so much?" Junpei asked.

"Yeah, you pretty much messed up the whole night," Izumi added, anger evident in her tone. She _had _been planning on cuddling with Asashi, but that didn't get to happen, and now she was extremely angry.

Tamotsu rolled his eyes. "You have forever to make out with Asashi. But we fought because Kouji's a jerk and he doesn't care about anybody but himself."

Takuya sighed. "It sounds like there's a lot more to it than that."

**

* * *

**

"Keiko…"

Said brunette groaned, opening her eyes blearily and realizing that she was still in the bathroom, laying on the floor. "Hmm…"

"Come on, get off the floor."

She looked up to see Saburo kneeling on her side, patting her side. "Come on. You'll get sick if you lay out here like this."

"I've had a really bad night," she muttered miserably.

"I can imagine," the brunette said dryly, allowing her to slump over onto his lap. "Get up."

"What time is it? Did everybody go back home?" she asked, gripping his shirt.

"It's four in the morning, and yes, everybody went home," he replied, tugging on her hair. "Get up, let's go."

Keiko stood and stumbled to her bed, dropping into it and closing her eyes. "What happened?" her brother asked, softly.

She shrugged. "I don't really know, anymore," she said, burying her face into the pillow. "It's times like this that I wish mom was still here."

"I'm sorry, Keiko," Saburo said, petting her hair. "I'm going to go to bed, now. You need anything?"

"No thank you," she sighed, already falling asleep. "Goodnight. I love you."

"You too, night."

**

* * *

**

"Tamotsu…"

The blonde turned around from opening his locker and smiled. "Hey, Keiko, what's going on?" His expression changed. "Hey, what's with the long face, huh? It's Friday, after school, _and_ it's _Christmas Break, _now_. _You look so sad."

"I'm not," the brunette said, her face going pink. She took a deep breath and stepped closer to him, burying her face into his chest. She clenched her fingers around the fabric of his sweater. "Will you go out with me?"

**

* * *

**

Uhm, please don't hurt me? Again? Ahaha, pleeeaaaaaseee? D:

Well, anyway, I'll have to avoid the mob. But before you all go, I have to say a few very important things. **First of all, for the number guessing contest, it's completely ongoing, and I'm determined to keep it going until this fic ends! So all of you can keep guessing (AND YOU CAN INTERVIEW THE SAME PERSON MORE THAN ONCE!)**

Second of all… Well, there is no second of all. :D Here's the interview with my-little-star. She interviewed Izumi! :D

1. Okay, Izumi, your mood flip flops more than a fish out of water, so I have to ask this question. Are you bipolar?

I: *Gawks* NO! I'm not bipolar! I'm just… a teenage girl with hormones. Hmph… Bipolar my ass.

2. JP always liked you in the Digital World. You were only one girl out of two in a group of seven. Which of the guys did you most like back then?

I: Um, I definitely had a thing for Kouji in the beginning, just because, well, he's really gorgeous! And he has a nice body! But after a while I started to like Takuya, like, a lot. Because he was smart and funny and brave and noble and sweet and nice and adorable and… and, well… Well, you get the picture, I guess.

3. Which of the guys do you like the most now?

I: Ah, my boyfriend, of course! And only my boyfriend! No one else! Not even… Takuya…

4. How did you feel when Takuya and Kouji crashed your date with Kouichi?

I: At the time I didn't care much. *Scratches chin* I really liked the attention at the time, I suppose. I felt good that those two liked me so much that they wanted to get me back. But that was then. Now? Now, I'd probably kill them both.

5. When you hurt a good friend, if you could do it differently, what would you do now?

I: I've hurt a lot of my friends, but in particular, I hurt Keiko quite a bit. I would kill to go back in time to change all of the mean things I said to her, because she never deserved any of it. I would try to reassure her that she was the most important person to me, and that I wouldn't let boys change that.


	33. Baby it's Cold Outside

Oh noooo! I'm late guys! So sorry! *sobs* We-helllll. Looks like it's time for some action. REMEMBER TO GUESS A NUMBER IN YOUR REVIEWS. IF YOU DON'T I **WILL **PM YOU!!! xD *Is crazy*

**Review replies for chapter 32:**

**Caliboy: **Yes, yes! I think everybody's been itching for the showdown between Kouji and Tamotsu. Muahaha, my cliffhangers pwn! :D Ooh, that's pretty cool; I wish I was psychic! xD Thank you so much for the review! I really appreciate it! :D

**Jennison Silverye:** Yeah, the action went by pretty quick, huh? But that's okay! More to come! And I can assure you that this beast won't be over any time soon! And happiness is coming, very soon. This chapter is pretty happy, I suppose. :D Thank you so much for reviewing! :D

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **Ooh, you noticed that? You deceitful whore. :D Remember that Steve Staley thing I told you about? There's this part where he goes, 'I'll be your bitch.' And I keep imagining Kouji saying that. AHAHAH xD Aaaanyway… KOUJI DID NOT WHIP TAMBO'S ASS, YOU ASS!! Ehhe. Thanks for the review, alby.

**Celestial Writer: **Yeah, a lot of reviewers deserved to see that, though. xD I've started a WAR. Yep, actions always have consequences, and Kouji realized it the hard way. Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter! :D

**Empyrea: **The Demon Lords are a little bit naughty. xD That sounded really creepy? Anyway, things between Keiko and Kouji have certainly been messed up by his idiotic actions; maybe it was an excuse! (Muse!Keiko: Ahaha..) Thanks so much for the review! I hope you like the next chapter! :D

**Rain621: **A NEW REVIEWER!!! SAY HELLO EVERYBODY! (Digimonmuses: HELLO!!! :D) Wow! I'm really glad you liked it so much! I certainly worked hard on it! Thank youuuu! I _really _appreciate the criticism, too! I understand that the couples seem to switch around very fast, but maybe it's different for me and the other reviewers, because they've had to wait for days until every other chapter, so I suppose it goes at a slower pace? But you are right, the couples are switching around a lot, and you'll see that they'll begin to settle down quite a bit. And as far as ages go: Keiko, Kouji, Tamotsu, Kouichi, Izumi, Takuya, Asashi and Michiko are all 14. Tomoki is 13, and Junpei is 15. I'm so so so so happy you like the story, and your review was really nice! :D Thank you for the review, and I hope you like this chapter!

**PurpleViolin: **Damn alert button… D: Muahaha, I'm very devious when it comes to Kouji! But is that such a bad thing? xD TAMOKEI IS BACK, DUDE!!! :D Hmmm… DID SHE? You'll see this chapter. Maybe. Your review made me dance a little bit! Thank you so much! I hope you like this chapter too! :D

**BEFORE YOU GO ON! I HAVE A QUICK THING FOR YOU ALL TO DO:**

I've been curious about who your favorite characters/couples are, soooo, will you do a 'this or that' for me?

1. Kouji _or_ Tamotsu

2. Izumi _or _Michiko

3. Asashi _or _Tamotsu

4. Keiko _or _Izumi

5. TamoKei _or _KouKei

6. Takumi _or _AsaZumi _or _Junzumi

7. Kouichi _or _Kouji

8. Who is your favorite character out of EVERYBODY?

Thank you so much, I'd really appreciate it so that I could get an outlook on who you all like a lot!

And a lot of people have asked me: Who is my favorite character out of everybody (Including my own characters: Keiko, Tamotsu, Michiko, Naoki, etc…_

I'd have to say Kouichi. He's too cute! xD

**

* * *

**

"The enemy's in the eastern quadrant," Keiko said gravely, pulling the purple gun closer to her chest. "It seems like they're planning for an air strike."

Naoki nodded. "In preparation, we should attack their northern forces, in an attempt to- WATCH OUT!" The brunette grabbed his sister by the arm, dragging her out of the way as grenades came from above their heads and landed on the floor. They popped, and flour flew all over.

Keiko raised her gun and began to shoot up the stairs and back to where the grenades had come down. She heard Saburo yelp and she huffed, knowing she had a close call.

"Attack now!" Naoki yelled. The two of them ran up the stairs and the two of them began to shoot small rubber balls out of their guns.

Saburo got hit by one in the leg and he squawked, hitting the ground. "I've been hit!"

Keiji tried to go help him, but Naoki shot a perfectly aimed ball at his head, and the dark haired boy dropped to the ground.

Keiko cheered and hopped up and down happily, clutching the gun to her chest. "We won! We've destroyed their alliance once and for all!"

Naoki gave her a high five and heaved a tired sigh. "Well, I hope you've all enjoyed your Christmas gifts."

Keiko grinned, as did her brothers. They had all gotten an array of presents: gift cards, Keiji had gotten a car, Keiko received a new computer, they had all got something wonderful, expensive, extravagant, even. But to them, the most valuable gifts had been the toy guns, only because it was what had brought them together.

"Yeah," Saburo said happily. "Thank you so much, Naoki!"

**

* * *

**

"This hill looks slightly deadly," Izumi said as she and Asashi trudged up the gigantic snow-covered hill. "Are you sure this is safe?"

Asashi smiled. "I don't know. They call it Dead Man's Hill, you know."

"Oh," Izumi said, stopping. "Then maybe we shouldn't-"

"Nonsense!" the brunette exclaimed, grabbing his girlfriend's arm and pulling her up. "It'll be great! I promise!"

"I don't like this," Izumi whined as they reached the top. Asashi put the sled down on the ground and he sat on the orange object.

"Come on, babe," he encouraged, holding his hand out for her. "I'll hold on to you."

Izumi nodded, getting on the sled only so that the teen could hold onto her. He wrapped his arms around her waist and nipped at her neck from behind. "Ready?"

The blonde nodded and shut her eyes tightly as the two began their descent down the hill.

**

* * *

**

"Okay, Tomoki!" Himi Kotone exclaimed, holding the camera up again. "Big smile!"

"Cheese," the brunette grumbled, smiling half-heartedly. "Okay, mom. Can we stop now? I'm not a little kid!"

"Don't be rude, Tomoki," Yutaka, Tomoki's much older brother cooed, his arm around his fiancée. "Mom just wants to take some pictures of you in your adorable bunny rabbit footy pajamas!"

Tomoki glared and dragged himself towards his room. "I'm going to play on my new Xbox," he huffed in annoyance. "And no more pictures!"

"Be more grateful!" his father yelled back. "That thing was damn expensive!"

"_Okay, _dad!" Tomoki yelled, walking into his room and slamming the door behind him. He laid down on his bed, huffing. He _hated _when his family treated him like a baby. Hell, even his friends treated him like a child still. Just because he wasn't in high school didn't mean that he was a naïve kid.

"No more," Tomoki said softly, sitting up and glaring at his wall. If they were all going to treat him like a baby, he was going to prove to them that he _wasn't._

**

* * *

**

"Thank you so much or the gifts, mom," Takuya said, smiling as his mother threw away the gift wrap. "It was great."

"I'm glad you liked it, Takuya," she said, smiling at him. "Make sure not to break anything, got it?"

"I will," Takuya replied, grinning happily. He made up his mind, and went up to his mother, hugging her tightly. "I love you mom. I think it was a great Christmas."

His mother hugged him back and her eyes filled with tears. "I love you too, sweetheart."

He looked at her for a moment as they pulled away. "Why are you crying, mom?" he asked. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, sweetheart," she replied, wiping her eyes with the sleeve of her sweater. "I just wish your father was here with us, you know?"

Takuya looked down to the floor and he felt a strong urge to cry his eyes out. "Mom?"

"Yes, sweetie?"

"I think that it was my fault," he said in a raspy voice.

"Takuya-"

"I told dad that he had to hurry." He sniffled. "And maybe if I hadn't, he wouldn't have gotten into an accident." Tears dripped down his cheeks. "If I hadn't barked at him the way I did, then maybe he would be here with us for Christmas."

His mother wrapped his arms around him. "No, Takuya," she said softly. "It's not your fault." The brunette began to sob into her shoulder, crying softly for his father. "Don't cry baby," she whispered, smoothing his hair from his eyes. "It's not your fault."

"Mommy," he whimpered softly, and his mother led him to the couch, pulling the boy into his lap. Takuya had never imagined himself in a position like this, being held by his mother like a child.

She stroked his hair and pressed kisses to his cheeks. "It's okay, baby. Don't cry."

They stayed like that for a while, and when the tears ceased, he slowly fell asleep in his mother's lap, because at the time, there was no place he'd rather be.

**

* * *

**

"Kouji!" Kouichi yelled when his brother tried to come through the window. "Where the hell have you been?" He stomped to the light switch and flicked the lights on. "I've been worried sick, and-"

Kouji cringed at the light and Kouichi noticed just how red his eyes were. "Kouji?"

The younger twin clamped his hand over his mouth and sped down the hallway, slamming the door to the bathroom behind him. Kouichi ran over, knocking on the door loudly, but pausing when he heard his brother retching violently.

"Kouji?" Kouichi opened the door and stared as Kouji just sagged over the toilet, groaning softly. "Kouji…"

Sighing, the older twin walked over to his brother and helped him to his feet, half-dragging him back to the bedroom and laying him on his side on the bed. "I'm gonna go get you some water," he said softly, and Kouji nodded, burying his head in the pillows miserably.

When Kouichi came back up to the room, Kouji was still in the same position, so Kouichi had to coax him onto his butt. "What did you do, Kouji?" Kouichi asked.

"Drank," Kouji muttered, sipping at the water.

"I think you know what I mean, and tell me the truth," Kouichi said, this time taking on a more intimidating tone. "_Girls, _Kouji."

"Some chick blew me," Kouji said, looking at his brother with red eyes. "She was easy, like the other ones. This time I took her number to humor her, but I threw it out as soon as I got out."

"Kouji," Kouichi sighed, running a hand over his face. "Why are you doing this?"

Kouji smiled blearily, laying down on the bed and facing his brother. "Because, Kouichi. I can."

**

* * *

**

Junpei took a deep breath before he stepped on the scale in the basement of his house. He had been working out for hours, and now he wanted to see how much he weighed. He sighed when he was still five pounds out of his range.

The brunette had lost tons of weight since he had gotten out of the Digital World, but there was still those few pounds he wanted to lose.

He wasn't built like Kouji, where he was wiry, but he was becoming more broad and muscled. This was a wonderful change for him.

Before, girls would wrinkle their noses at him and turn away, but now, he had them hanging off of his shoulders. Girls threw their numbers at him on several occasions. It almost made him sad.

He felt as if his personality had changed from when he was twelve, but he knew the reason that girls were talking to him was because of the way he looked. In a way, he wished that people didn't make their views revolve around looks and appearances, but that was the way the world worked, and there was nothing he could do about it.

But still, he thought as he looked at his sweating abs in the mirror, he did look pretty damn good.

**

* * *

**

"Hey, Takuya, are you okay?" Kouichi asked as the boy slumped over the bench in the locker room. "You haven't looked too good all day. Do you feel sick?"

The normally tan brunette looked sickly pale and he had dark bags underneath his eyes. He shrugged and then rested his head against his knees. "I felt okay a few hours ago, but then I felt really sick, but I did gym anyway."

"Hey, maybe a shower would help," Kouichi suggested, gesturing towards the showers in the back of the locker room.

"Maybe," the brunette replied, slowly standing up and wobbling to the back of the locker room. He held onto the lockers as he passed, and Kouichi followed him, looking worried.

Kouji walked by, a towel wrapped around his waist and his skin shining from the water on it; his dark hair was dripping wet and was tied up. "What's the matter?" he asked.

"Takuya doesn't feel good," Kouichi said. "So I'm taking him to the shower."

"Oh," the raven said. "Well, he has all day, I mean, it's the last class and all."

His brother nodded and led Takuya the rest of the way. He helped him pull his clothes off and he turned the water on in the shower. "I'll be in the one right next to yours. Call me if you need anything." Kouichi stripped himself of his clothes and got into the stall right next to Takuya's.

Kouichi was rinsing the shampoo out of his hair when he heard a crash next to him. Cursing softly, he grabbed onto his towel and wrapped it around his waist, running to the stall next to him.

He ripped the curtain open and gasped when he saw Takuya laying on the ground, twitching severely. Saliva was dripping from his mouth and his eyes were wide.

"Kouji!" Kouichi screamed as he turned the water off and kneeled next to the naked brunette. "Kouji! Kouji, help!"

Said ravenette ran over and got onto his knees next to his brother. "What's going on with him? What happened?"

"I don't know!" Kouichi began to look around frantically, but he realized that everybody had already cleared out of the locker rooms. "Are the girls still waiting for us?"

"Yeah, why?" Kouji asked as he gripped Takuya's arm.

"Go get them!"

Kouji nodded and sped out of the locker room. He looked left and right before he saw a head of blonde hair. "Izumi!" he yelled.

The girl turned around and her green eyes widened. "Kouji? Hey, where's Takuya and Kouichi?"

The blue eyed boy grabbed her arm and dragged her to the locker room, despite her squealed protests. She gaped when she saw Kouichi kneeling down next to Takuya, who looked as if he was having a seizure. Kouichi had thankfully draped a towel over his hips in the time that his brother had searched for help.

"Takuya!" Izumi cried. She ran over with Kouji and kneeled down next to the brunette. "What's-"

Suddenly Takuya screamed, his eyes widening even more as his back arched. The skin below his shoulders began to bubble up, as if something were trying to rip out of it. Something did, in fact.

Wings. Large orange wings came from his skin and his teeth bared as an inhuman growl reverberated from his lips.

"BurningGreymon," Kouji whispered in recognition. "He's… changing…" Without hesitation, he grabbed onto Izumi and pulled her with him out of the way, his older brother hot on his trail.

"We can't leave him!" Izumi wailed, trying to reach out for the brunette. "Takuyaaa!"

A ear piercing roar caused all of the mirrors in the locker room to shatter, and the ground shook, sending the three to the ground in a heap.

There was a crash at the back wall, and they all sat up to see a gaping hole in it, and a creature was taking flight into the air.

"Takuya," Izumi whispered tearfully.

**

* * *

**

"It's weird being out in the city, for some reason," Keiko said, walking next to Junpei with a steaming hot chocolate in her hands.

"Why's that?" he asked, sipping on his own tea.

"I have this bad feeling," she said quietly, looking up at the sky. "Like, something's about to happen. Something… Bad."

"I know what you mean," the brunette replied. "Almost like…" His eyes widened as he looked up to the sky. "LOOK OUT!" He wrapped his arms around Keiko, jumping away from their position and the two of them went tumbling into the snow.

A loud booming noise was heard from where they had just been standing, and their eyes widened as an angry, yet beautiful creature stood over them, it's eyes red.

"Takuya?" Keiko whispered from where she was under Junpei. "What happened to you?"

He had orange wings coming from his back, and red armor going around his legs. It wound to his mid-ribs and wrapped up his back and around his shoulders, showing an enlarged, yet toned chest. He had a strange helmet on his head, and his red eyes were glowing brightly.

"Takuya…" Junpei said, his jaw open. "He's merged with BurningGreymon."

"Lobo kendo!"

Takuya cried out and dropped to the ground, looking back up only to be hit with a dark ball of energy. Kouji, Kouichi and Izumi, who were all transformed, hit the ground next to the two teens on the ground, ready to fight.

"Transform, guys!" Izumi said, her fist clenching. "It's time to fight."

"Love Evolution!"

"Thunder Evolution!"

Two more warriors were there, and only one was missing.

"Pyro barrage!" Takuya lifted his hands and bullets of flame shot out of them, heading for the warriors.

"Blizzard blaster!"

Every single projectile was turned into small pieces of ice, hitting the snow a few feet from the others. Tomoki landed right next to them.

"Tomoki!" Keiko exclaimed. "How did you-"

"Bad feeling," he answered. "I guess I was right."

"Attack now!" Kouji yelled, charging for Takuya, as did the others.

**

* * *

**

Somehow, the battle had brought them to the top of the largest skyscraper for miles around. The Takishita office building.

Tomoki was holding his knee, which had been crushed under a lamppost. Izumi had blood dripping down her leg and Kouichi was suffering from a severe burn on his arm. Junpei was in pretty good condition, but he was supporting Keiko, who was fighting to stay conscious after hitting her head quite hard. Kouji was tired, but he was fine as well, only having had a few bruises. Takuya was tired as well, but his eyes were still glowing red.

"Keiko," Kouji said, looking over to the hazy brunette.

"Huh?"

"Think you can fire up an arrow if I distract Takuya?" he asked.

She nodded and, cringing, she pulled an arrow into her hands from thin air.

"Everybody, supercharge that arrow. I can get him concentrating on me for a few moments." And with that, Kouji leapt at Takuya, his swords out.

Each of the warriors, besides Kouji, of course, put their hands on the arrow and put all of their energy into it. It began pulsating with light, and was throbbing.

"Now!" Keiko yelled, and Kouji jumped away as Keiko fired the arrow.

**

* * *

**

"Takuya… Takuya, please, please wake up."

"Did we hurt him?"

"He'll wake up… He has to."

Chocolate brown eyes peeled open, bloodshot and glazed over. "Guys?"

"Takuya!" Izumi gasped. "Oh, thank _God _you're okay!"

"What happened?" he asked, attempting to sit up, realizing that he was being held in somebody's arms, somebody who was _much _warmer than the way it was outside.

It was then that he noticed that he was as naked as the day he was born, only a coat covering his body. "Where are my clothes? And why are we at the top of a building?"

"You changed into your beast spirit," Kouji explained, and it was then that he realized that his best friend was holding him. "You lost your mind for a while back there. But you're okay now, none of us are badly injured. When we changed back into ourselves, our injuries lessened."

Takuya nodded off again, and the next time he woke up, he was in Kouji's bed, clothed, thankfully, and full of questions.

**

* * *

**

**(WARNING. IT GETS PRETTY STEAMY HERE.)**

Keiko clutched onto Tamotsu's shirt as he planted kisses on her neck and ears, nipping lightly at some spots. Keiko was panting as he ran his hands over her chest, touching her over the school shirt that she wore.

"Tamotsu…" Keiko whispered, and he ravaged her mouth again, running his calloused hands down her sides and onto her thighs.

She arched up into his toned body, which was suspended above hers. "Tamotsu," she said again, just as softly.

"You're so hot," the blonde said against her lips, pressing his tongue into her mouth, eliciting a groan from the teen below him.

The brunette felt as if she was going to melt into her bed sheets. Everything about him made her heart speed up. The way his tongue swirled around hers, the scent of his hair, the softness of his skin; everything.

He sat up for a second and pulled off his shirt, which was already unbuttoned, thanks to the brunette beneath him, and he went back down to her pretty little mouth, delving his tongue into it.

The kisses became more passionate, and they stroked the fire in her belly. Keiko felt as if the only thing that existed was the pleasure and the heat that was blooming between her legs.

She groaned softly when his knee situated itself between her legs, rubbing up and down lightly, teasing touches. "Tamots-"

He silenced her with a kiss again, and he unbuttoned the shirt she was wearing, looking down at her chest and belly.

"I like the lace," he said softly, palming her breast and feeling the lace under his hand. "It turns me on even more."

Keiko purred and pressed his lips to his left pectoral, sucking and licking at the spot. He moved the fabric of her shirt down her shoulders, so lost in the sight of her flat stomach and tantalizing hips, that he hadn't noticed the footsteps coming up the stairs, just like Keiko hadn't.

The also weren't prepared for the door to open, or for big blue eyes to stare at them.

**

* * *

**

So, uh, that last scene there… Yow… Uh, that kind of just came out. I mean it wasn't horribly dirty, but it was, like, RAWR-ish.

Ahem, anyway, the winner of the number guessing contest this time was GirlsLikeeBoys. Make sure to pick a number, guys and gals! **BY THE WAY: YOU CAN INTERVIEW THE SAME PERSON MORE THAN ONCE!!**

She interviewed Takuya! :D:

1) So you've been in this group of friends since the Digital World. Do you get tired of them at times?

T: Well, everybody gets tired of their friends sometimes, so I suppose I'm no exception. They're all great, and they've been there for me when I'm having tough times, especially Kouji. So for the most part, I love them.

2) What are your views on Keiko, Izumi and Michiko? How would you rate each of them on a scale from 1 - 10?

T: I like them all, but not exactly like _that. _Well, it's obvious that I like Izumi… But Michiko's more like a good friend, and Keiko's my best friend that's a girl. She's sort of like a sister to me. On a scale of one to ten? On looks? Well, Izumi's a ten, Michiko would be… and eight or nine... And Keiko's a nine. Izumi just does it for me, you know?

3) Are you ever jealous of Kouji?

T: Obviously. Every guy in the _school _is jealous of Kouji. He's the most attractive guy in our school, besides me, of course, and he gets _any girl he wants_. Just like that! It comes so easily to him, it's just like… DUDE.

4) Do you get annoyed that Tamotsu got into a fight (and got his ass whooped) with Kouji? Do you feel like you should've defended Kouji?

T: Not really, Kouji's a big boy. If he's gonna start a fight, he doesn't need me to swoop in and try to save him. And, from what I heard, they were pretty evenly matched. Tamotsu's a beast, dude. Like Missy Elliot.

5) Any secret *cough man cough* crushes right now?

T: Man crushes? Aha, noo. I'm as straight as a… Uh, Arnold Swartzeneggar. And as far as not man crushes go… I think it's OBVIOUS that I have a thing for a certain blonde…


	34. Interlude 3: Air

**A/N: **Just a little interlude with mini-Keiko. Nothing too grand. Review replies in the next chapter, which will be out tomorrow. Sorry it's been so long, things have been going on, and I've had horrible writer's block. PM if you'd like. Especially you, Sydney.**

* * *

**

**Interlude 3: Air**

Keiko pumped her legs forwards as she swung through the air. Wind rushing through her hair and causing her blue summer dress to billow at the bottom.

She sits in midair for only a moment, before she rushes back down, her chin-length hair spilling forward and her stomach going up.

She pushes her legs forward again, smiling at the feeling of being in the air, flying like a bird and having nothing to hold her down.

Up, down, up, down. The process goes over and over again, but it doesn't get old. Every time she feels herself go up, completely weightless for only a split second before falling back down, a strange feeling enters her stomach, and she feels… _good._

After several minutes of weightlessness and rushing to the ground with great speed, Keiko finally gets the courage enough to let go of the swings and jump off. Her hair flies about in the air, her little summer dress her mother got her goes above her knees, and she feels air rush over her small frame.

It was in the same moment, that Keiko broke her ankle.


	35. Pandora's Box

**Review replies for chapter 33/34:**

**Celestial writer: **Ahaha, a steamy ending for a steamy chapter. xD Ahaha, I hope I didn't scar you and your sister! :D Thank you so much for the review on this, _and_ on the interlude!

**Caliboy: **Aha, it was 4 over here when I got the review, so don't feel bad. xD A BIG Tamokei fan? Yay! :D Thanks for the reviews!

**Empyrea: **I don't think anybody was expecting the last part, there. xD I'm really glad you liked the Christmas chapter. And thank you so much for doing the this or that. Thank you for the reviews!

**Jennison Sliverye: **Yeah, I feel that it was rushed, as well. D: And yes, we will see fusion spirits, but not only with Kouji and Takuya! ;D Thank you for doing the this or that, and thank you for the reviews!

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **This will be the shortest review reply I ever give you: You suck.

**LoveCherrySnow: **I'm glad you like the characters and the story so much! Saburo rocks! Thank you so much for the review!

**All of Small Fox's reviews: **Thank you so much for going through and reviewing all of the chapters! I hope you enjoy this one just as much! Thanks again!

**All of Hero of Hazard's reviews: **Seriously, all of your reviews make me laugh… Especially the one for 15. I literally laughed out loud. xD Thank you for taking the time to review all of the chapters! (And I totally love Lion King, too!)

**A/N: **Helloooooo. Please don't hurt me for the complete lateness of this chapter. I seriously had ten pages of stuff, then I got stuck and didn't like it anymore, so being the crazy bitch I am, I completely re-did it. Not okay. And I've had a writer's block as well as a lot of stuff going on in school and at home. No excuses, though. I promised 5 day updates, and I'm really going to try and get it done.

Next order of business… The number guessing contest. It's still going on, guys. And come on, guess who won this one? Sydney. Remember her last interview? I mean, seriously, if you guys don't guess numbers, we'll have crazy people like Sydney doing it every time. All you have to do is guess a number from 1-10, and if you get it right, you can interview any character you want! If you've already interviewed, you can guess again! I'm planning on keeping this interview thing going for a while, because this fic is a beast, and we've got a lot to get through before this is over. Please, please guess a number.

All the reviews were wonderful! In fact, we have two new reviewers! Thank you all so much, the reviews were very much loved and appreciated!

Sydney asked me a question. She goes, "You know how Kouji's into blondes?" And I was like, "Yeah." And she said, "Is it because you're blonde?" And I go, "I'm not blonde." And she's like, "Ah."

So for the record, Kouji's not into blondes because I'm blonde. Because I'm not blonde. The end. xD

**

* * *

**

Keiko and Tamotsu froze when the door opened. They were in an extremely compromising position. His hands were in the process of unclasping her bra, while she had his bottom lip between her teeth. His knee was still pressed between her legs, still moving in a circular motion that made her squirm. Her hands were over his chest and her eyes slowly moved towards the door, where the intruder was.

It was Mister Boots. She tilted her head for a moment, then shook it, strolling back out of the room at a leisurely pace. The two stared at each other for a moment, in shock and relief. The brunette got off the bed and walked over to the door, locking it after she shut it, this time around.

Tamotsu was sitting on the edge of the bed when she walked back, holding his arms out as a silent invitation. She smiled shyly and slipped into his arms, curling up against him and pushing her face into the crook of his neck. "That was way too close," she muttered.

"I know…" Tamotsu patted her back, which barely had anything covering it. "Maybe…" He pulled her back for a moment so that he could look at her in the eyes. "We should take it a little bit slower." He turned around and grabbed her shirt from the bed, handing it to her.

Keiko's cheeks turned pink and she pulled her shirt back on. "Yeah, you're probably right." Tamotsu began to pull his shirt on as well, but Keiko pressed a hand to his chest. "Wait a second."

Tamotsu raised an eyebrow as her turquoise eyes scanned his chest and stomach. She nodded and took her hand away. "Okay, you can put your shirt on, now," she said and got off his lap, walking over to her dresser to put on a different shirt, only because she didn't want to wear the shirt she wore all day in school.

"You're so cute, Keiko," Tamotsu said, laughing as he buttoned his shirt up.

Keiko smiled to herself as she dug through her drawers. She made a face when she saw that her favorite shirt wasn't there. She must've worn it without remembering.

Keiko gawked when she felt a body press against her back and arms wrap around to her chest, where fingers began to unclasp the buttons on her shirt with practiced ease. "What happened to taking it slow?"

Tamotsu pressed a kiss to her shoulder as he pulled her shirt off. "You made that face," he said. He turned her around and ran his hands up her smooth legs until they were only inches below where her underwear began. "I _love _that face."

And it began, once again.

**

* * *

**

Kouichi stared down at his food, which seemed to be alive. "Uh, Kouji? What exactly is this?"

"It's rice," the younger twin said, turning around from his position at the stove. "Didn't you see me take it out of the rice cooker?"

Kouichi's eye twitched and he looked back down at the black lump on his plate. "It _was_ rice," he muttered.

"Did you say something?" Kouji asked, turning his head and looking at his brother.

"I said, it's rice."

"I could've told you that."

"Yeah."

"…"

"…"

Kouji turned back to the stove and began conjuring something else up.

"What are you making?" Kouichi asked hesitantly.

"Curry," Kouji said. "Spicy curry."

Kouichi's eyes widened and his heart almost lurched out of his chest with joy when he saw Kouji's German Shepherd, Kiba, walk in, looking at his master before looking at Kouichi.

"Come here, Kiba!" Kouichi whispered, waving his hand to the dog. The brown and black dog happily trotted over to Kouichi, wagging his tail and licking at Kouichi's hand. "Good, boy!"

He looked over at Kouji, who was immersed in his work, doing his best to cook curry for his brother. Kouichi felt a little hit guilty, but he knew that it was either guilt, or death.

"Here you go, Kiba," Kouichi whispered, lifting the lump (it stuck together in a _clump_) and putting it to the dog's nose.

Kiba sniffed it tentatively before barking menacingly at it. The dog ran away, whimpering the whole time.

"You son of a bitch," Kouichi whispered under his breath. Kouji walked over with a plate of curry, one side white, the other a strange red-brown color. _'Oh dear God.'_

**

* * *

**

"Does this look infected to you?" Keiko asked off-handedly, showing her fingernail to her brother.

"Ah, it doesn't look too hot," Saburo replied, looking at it with raised eyebrows. "Maybe you should go get that checked out."

"Yeah…" Keiji added, looking at the fingernail. "Better early, before anything crazy can happen to it."

"Like…?" Keiko gestured for him to continue.

"Like falling off," Keiji said, leaning back onto the couch and stretching.

Keiko slowly drew her hand away and put it between her legs, concealing it. "Umm, so where is he, already? He's a half hour late for Musical Tuesday!"

"Maybe he got held up at the office or something," Saburo said.

"Well, I would have known if he was," Keiji interjected. "I mean, I'm a floor below him, and we usually head home together, you know?"

"Did he say anything to you before you left?" Keiko asked, yawning and leaning back.

"No," Keiji said. "All he said was 'I'll be a little bit late. I'll be home in time for Musical Tuesday.'"

"Well that's not nothing," Saburo huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Why didn't you say that a few minutes ago?"

Keiji narrowed his eyes. "Because I didn't want to. _Bitch._"

"I hate you," Saburo said blandly, looking back to the TV, where the menu for Singing in the Rain was showing. "I really want to start the movie…"

"Me too," Keiko said. "If he doesn't show up in a half hour or so, maybe we should just go without him."

"Okay," Keiji said. "It's a deal."

About twenty minutes later, Naoki came home. But he had a surprise with him.

**

* * *

**

"To the bang, bang boogie, say up jumped the boogie to the rhythm of the boogie de beat," Izumi sang, shaking her hips as she finished pouring popcorn into the bowl.

"Now what you hear is not a test, I'm rapping to the beat. And me, the groove, and my friends are gonna try to move your feet."

She began to moonwalk across the floor, shaking her hips and singing loudly. "You see, I am Wonder-Mic, and I'd like to say hello. To the black and the white, the red and the brown, the purple and yellow."

She slid into the living room, where Asashi was sitting, staring at her with wide eyes. She pointed dramatically to him. "But first I gotta-"

She began to dance like a madman. "-Bang, bang, the boogie to the boogie say up jumped the boogie to the bang, bang boogie, let's rock, you don't stop, lock the rhythm that will make your body rock!"

She then did a split, and Asashi just kept staring at her. She cleared her throat and sat on the couch next to him, moving against his side. "I know you're jealous," she said.

Asashi snorted. "Yeah. Okay."

Izumi gawked. "You don't think I could be a good performer?"

Asashi just stared at her. "Are you serious."

"Nah," the blonde said, waving her hand. "I know. My mom's said that I can't rap."

"But you can sing…" Asashi said. He took the popcorn out of her hands and put it off to the side. He slowly moved his mouth to hers and laid her down on the couch, kissing her the entire time. He pulled away. "Speaking of your mom. Are your parents home?"

"Yeah, but they're probably getting it on upstairs," Izumi said, running her hands through his hair and kissing his forehead.

"Are you _serious?_" Asashi asked. Izumi just stared at him, and Asashi's eyes widened. "You're _serious?!?_"

"Yeah."

"…"

"…"

"…"

"Can you kiss me again?"

And he did.

**

* * *

**

"How was your guys' Musical Tuesday?" Tamotsu asked off-handedly as he walked down the hallway next to Keiko.

She shrugged. "Naoki came late. And when he did show up, he had some girl with him."

"Really?" Tamotsu asked, his eyes widening. "What was she like?"

"I don't really know," Keiko said, the corner of her mouth twitching. "She was all over him the entire time. She said that her name is…"

Keiko clenched her fist, she didn't continue, but her eyes were furious.

"Keiko?" Tamotsu asked softly, tapping her shoulder. "Babe? What's the matter? Is her name something that makes you mad or whatever?"

"Her name is Ayame."

**

* * *

**

"I had no idea about your sister," a voice said softly.

Keiko's eyes widened as she turned the corner in the hallway. It was the new girl that Naoki was dating, whispering something. Naoki must've been there too.

"It's not your fault." Yeah, that was definitely Naoki.

"I'm so sorry. It must make you guys so uncomfortable to call me by my name," she said.

"I'm just worried about the kids."

Keiko's eyes widened. Kids? _Kids?!? _Since when did her brother call them kids? She was fourteen years old, and her other brothers were fifteen and _twenty. _They were _far _from being kids.

"I understand that," she replied. There was the rustle of clothing. "How about you all call me Aya? Maybe that would help?"

"I think it would…" Kissing sounds. "Thank you for understanding, Ayame." There was more kissing sounds.

Keiko huffed and turned around, walking back downstairs.

She _had _to tell her brothers.

**

* * *

**

"Hey, Izumi!" Takuya sang, running over to the blonde and stopping next to her with a grin. "Are you excited for that field trip?"

"Sure am," Izumi said, grinning. It was the annual field trip for their health class. They went to a huge museum and looked at gigantic exhibits of the human body.

"Wanna sit with me on the bus?" the brunette asked, smiling.

The blonde smiled happily. "Of course, Takuya."

The two began to walk to the lobby of the school, where the health class was supposed to meet and get onto the bus. Takuya predictably broke the silence first.

"Remember that time in the Digital World, when we were in that big-ass library?" he asked suddenly.

Of _course _she remembered that. That was the time she almost told Takuya she liked him. She nodded. "Yeah, I remember that."

"You were about to tell me that you liked me, right?" he asked, grinning.

Izumi dropped to the ground with a yelp.

"Oh my God!" Takuya cried, kneeling down to help her. "Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I'm okay," Izumi said, her face becoming beet red. "I, uh, tripped over something."

"What did you trip over?"

Izumi's eye twitched. _'Your words.' _"My feet. I wasn't really watching where I was going. Uh, sorry. Didn't mean to scare you."

Takuya laughed and Izumi looked indignant. "Don't apologize. It's not your fault." He held a hand out to her. "Come on."

Izumi stared at his hand with wide green eyes, before she took it and he pulled her back up to her feet. "Thanks."

He nodded and they began walking down the hall again. "So," he said. "You really like pink, huh?"

"What?" Izumi asked, her eyebrows furrowing. What kind of question was that?

"Your underwear."

This time, it was Takuya who was on the ground. But it wasn't because he tripped over his feet. It was because Izumi's fist was connected to his face.

**

* * *

**

"Izumi and Takuya are so lucky," Kouji said as he attempted to copy what the people on the screen were doing. "They don't have to do this shit."

"Well they don't get to get home until four," Junpei said, wincing when he couldn't get his leg at a ninety degree angle. "Ouch."

"This isn't cool," Kouichi said, changing positions along with the television. "Why are we doing yoga in gym class?"

"It's more like sex positions," Michiko said, and Keiko burst out laughing.

"Get your mind out of the gutter," Tamotsu muttered, glaring at his friend.

Michiko began to laugh with Keiko, and soon enough Asashi joined. "I really don't think I want to do these anymore," he said, he said, slowly moving down to lay on the mats. "Maybe she won't notice that-"

"Back into position, Tenoh!"

The brunette groaned and moved back into another embarrassing position. "I hate this class."

**

* * *

**

"We're home!" Keiji exclaimed, tossing his keys into the bowl on the table next to the pantry as Keiko took her shoes off behind him. "I got Keiko from practice. Hey, Ayaka said that she-"

Both he and Keiko froze when they saw Naoki and Ayame against the counter, their lips connected in what looked to be a passionate kiss.

"Uh, Ayaka said that she'll… be here soon," Keiji said, his eye twitching. They obviously didn't hear him, because they just kept going at it. "Umm…"

"Hey, Keiji! I'm home!" a voice said and a pretty brunette with blue eyes walked through. "Hey, Keiko… Naoki! I'm gonna-" She froze with the other two, just staring at the two of them making out. "O-Oh. Okay…"

They finally pulled apart and they both _smiled _at them. Ayame giggled and wrapped an arm around his. "You don't have to cook. I've got it, tonight."

Ayaka smiled sharply. "Well, I always cook on Wednesdays. It's really no problem. I already bought food and everything."

Ayame smiled right back. "Well, I'm sure that the woman of the house should be cooking. Maybe you could watch TV with the other kids well I cook?"

Ayaka looked over at Naoki, who was still smiling at Ayame. She clenched her fist, silent.

"Woman of the house?" Keiko asked, her eyes widening. "What do you mean, woman of the house?"

"I have to tell you all something at dinner tonight," Naoki said. "Aya will be cooking."

"Aya?" Keiji muttered.

"I heard about your sister. And I feel terrible about the entire thing. Please. Call me Aya. If it makes you all more comfortable," she said, smiling.

"You told her about Ayame?" Keiji demanded.

"It was only a matter of time before she found out," Naoki said. "I wasn't going to keep something like that from my lover."

"Lover?!?" Keiji and Keiko cried at the same time.

"Go watch TV guys," Ayame said, smiling as she took the bag from a fuming Ayaka's grasp. "I'll call you when dinner's ready."

**

* * *

**

"I really hate you," Izumi growled as she and Takuya stumbled through the museum in the darkness. "You got us _locked into a __**museum.**_"

"Hey, it wasn't only my fault!" he said. "You should've been more attentive. I didn't ask you to be a freak who can't hear when the museum is closing in ten minutes."

"I really hate you," Izumi said, again. "Really. I mean, I really, really hate you."

"Right back at you."

"What are we going to do? I mean, we can't spend the entire night here!" Izumi said, sitting down and crossing her arms over her chest.

"Well, we're gonna have to," Takuya replied, sitting down next to her. "I mean, it can't be _that _bad. All we have to do is sleep here and wait for security to get us in the morning."

Izumi sighed and laid on her side. "God, this is such a drag. Why must this happen to us?"

"Don't be such a drama queen," Takuya said, laughing as he laid down as well. "Wait, what am I talking about? You were always a drama queen…"

Izumi gawked. "What? I'm not a drama queen?"

"Are you serious?" Takuya rolled his eyes. "I mean, come on. The Digital World? You were so dramatic!"

"I was not!" Izumi cried.

"You were."

"No!"

"Izumi. You were."

Izumi sat up and crossed her arms over her chest. "You were a drama _king_. At least _I_ didn't cry all the time and have little temper tantrums and a huge speech before every single battle against the Royal Knights!" She huffed. "And I didn't become unconscious every three seconds."

"You did too!" Takuya retorted. "You were unconscious all the time! That one time when you fell into the water, and when you were throwing snowballs at the Royal Knights, and… Well, you were unconscious a lot, now that I think about it. We all were…"

Izumi furrowed her eyebrows. "Can you imagine how many concussions we have? I mean, seriously… We really were knocked out a lot."

"I know…" Takuya said. "Hey, and we never finished our conversation… What was it you were going to tell me in the Digital World? When we were in the library…"

"Ah…" Izumi scratched the back of her head. "I was going to tell you that I _liked _you."

Takuya's face flushed pink and his eyes literally went alight. "Oh. Really. I liked you then, too."

Izumi nodded. "I used to have the biggest crush on you."

Takuya furrowed his brows. "_Used to?_"

Izumi lowered her eyes. "Well, we were kids back then, Takuya. I don't really like you like that, now. I mean, you're over it too, right?"

Takuya smiled. "Of course I'm over it," he muttered.

Silence overtook them. They refused to look at each other. Finally, Takuya broke the silence. "Do you have your cell phone?"

"Uh, yeah, why?" Izumi asked, pulling the pink phone out.

Takuya's eye twitched. "Because you can _**call **_your _**parents **_and tell them to come and _**get us out of here!**_"

"Hmmm. I didn't think of that."

**

* * *

**

"Aya and I are going to get married."

"_**WHAT?!?**_" Saburo, Keiji and Keiko all yelled at once.

"What do you mean?" Saburo cried.

Keiji stood up in his seat and glared at his brother accusingly. "What the hell do you mean? You just met her!"

"How are you getting married to her already?" Keiko exclaimed. "You can't know her that well!"

"Aya and I have been seeing each other for over a year now," Naoki said calmly. "We plan to marry this summer."

"Why didn't you tell us you knew her for so long?" Keiji yelled. He slammed his hands down on the table. "We're supposed to tell each other _everything, _Naoki! What's the matter with you?"

Ayaka wrapped her hand around Keiji's wrist and held it in a comforting gesture. "Keiji…"

"Why didn't we know about her?" Keiko asked, a hysterical tinge to her voice. "Why didn't we know? Why? Why are you only telling us now?"

Naoki sighed. "I didn't want to scare you guys?"

"Scare us?" Saburo yelled.

"What do you mean, scare us?" Keiji asked. "We're not children, Naoki!"

Naoki glared at him. "You're certainly acting like you are," he said placidly.

Keiji's hand curled around the tablecloth tightly. "I can't believe you. What the hell is _wrong _with you?" And with that, he stormed out of the room. Naoki got up and followed him.

Keiko looked panicked, and Saburo looked angry. Ayaka began to clear the dishes, and Ayame looked extremely uncomfortable.

It was then, that the screaming match ensued from upstairs.

**

* * *

**

"Aya?"

Said blonde turned around from where she was washing dishes at the sink. "Hi, Keiko."

The brunette walked over next to her and picked up a dishtowel. "I'll wash, if you dry."

"Alright," she said, smiling.

They worked in silence, and for some reason that made Keiko uneasy. "Umm… I'm sorry about Keiji. He'll come around."

Ayame shook her head. "It's fine."

"So will Saburo."

"I'm not trying to become your guys' mother," Ayame said. "I don't want you to think that that's what I'm trying to become."

"Maybe that's why everybody's… scared," Keiko said. "I don't want a new mother…" She paused for a moment. "But I wouldn't mind a big sister." She smiled up at her. "I think you'll be a good wife for Naoki."

Ayame smiled. "Thank you, Keiko."

**

* * *

**

Kouichi groaned as he was shaken awake by Kouji. "God, what do you want?"

Kouji grabbed Kouichi's arm and dragged him downstairs, where the TV was on and their father and Kouji's stepmother were sitting in front of it, their eyes wide. A newscaster was sitting at his desk, a grave expression on his face.

"_For those of you who are just joining us this morning, there seems to be a hostage situation at Shibuya High School." _Kouichi's eyes widened. _"As you can see, there are several men surrounding the perimeter of the school with guns. They've been standing there since five o'clock this morning. We have reason to believe that there are several more in the interior of the school." _The screen showed several police officers standing around the outside of the school, as well as a large crowd of people and newscasters._ "We've just received news of the identities of the hostages, who are being held inside of the school. The Takishita family, who we all know as the richest family in Japan are inside of the building. We don't know of their condition, but-"_

At that point, Kouichi felt his brain shut down.

**

* * *

**

And, cut! Well, you know that when I don't update for longer than usual, something juicy is coming up. xD Anyway, this week's winner of the guessing contest was Sydney! (Tamotsu: Nooo!!!) She decided to interview Asashi. (Tamotsu: YES! THANK GOD!)

1.) Why, oh why, are you so cool?

A: Ahaha, I don't really know. I guess I was just born that way? Um, seriously? I don't know.

2.) How long have you known Michiko and Tamotsu?

A: I've known Michiko since the third grade, and I've known Tamotsu since second. We've kind of been best friends forever, the three of us. But Tamotsu and I have always been closer.

3.) Do you think that Tamotsu and Keiko are a good couple?

A: Yeah, I do. Tamotsu's liked Keiko for a really long time, so it was nice when they finally got together. And it's obvious that he wasn't thrilled when he saw things going on between Kouji and Keiko, and stuff. He's been wanting to get together with Keiko for years. It's about time.

4.) Now, it's obvious that Tamotsu and Kouji don't like each other. Do you feel the same way about Kouji?

A: Ah… _(Scratches the back of head.) _I actually think that Kouji's mad cool. I know that Tamotsu doesn't like him, but that's really no reason for me not to. He's really chill. I don't like that Tamotsu and Kouji hate each other so much, though. They surprisingly have a lot in common with each other.

5.) What do you think about Izumi?

A: She's really great. I mean, she's a good friend and she's funny and sweet and cute… I'm kind of surprised that I got one of the hottest girls in the ninth grade. I don't even know how to explain it… We're kind of opposite, but she's so cool. I'm really glad that she likes me…

6.) I love you. Seriously.

A: Um, that's not really a question… But thanks, I guess.


	36. To Be Or Not To Be

**I don't want to keep you waiting with an author's note. So here you go!:**

**

* * *

**

Keiko opened her eyes slowly, feeling tired out and somewhat cold. She took in her surroundings with hazy orbs. She was laying on a marble floor, her cheek pressed into the ground. Her arms were bound behind her back, and she had a piece of inside of her mouth, as if she were a horse with reins.

She groaned, and another voice was heard. "Keiko?"

She muttered something again and managed to turn over, looking at whoever said her name. "Nngmff…"

"Hang on…"

Her eldest brother slunk over, pushing himself across the marble and using his hands, which were behind his back to pull the gag out of her mouth. He moved back, and Keiko sat up shakily. "Where are we?"

Keiji was sitting in the middle of the room, looking at each of the walls, while Saburo was just looking at the ground. Naoki shuffled back to a wall, sitting against it. "The high school."

"Why?" she asked, looking around the room, her eyes widening. "What happened?"

"We're hostages," Saburo said shakily. He squeezed his eyes shut. "Fucking hostages."

Keiko tried to pull her hands apart, but they were bound together with duct tape, which was digging into her skin. "Naoki, what do we do?" she asked desperately.

The door to the classroom they were in suddenly opened, and a dark haired man with two other men with guns flanking his sides, strolled in, smiling. "Everybody's outside," he said. "They're all here for you guys. Doesn't that make you happy?"

"What?" Keiko hissed. "What's wrong with you?"

The man didn't even spare the girl a look. "It's already five o'clock in the evening. You guys have been in here for about twelve hours. Aren't you proud?"

"You're disgusting," Keiko said lowly. "Don't you have any morals?"

"No," he replied, smiling. "I guess I don't."

"You're crazy!" Saburo yelled.

"I can assure you," the man said. "I most certainly am not."

"You are," Keiji hissed. "And who the hell do you think you are? How did you get into our house and get through the gate?"

The man smiled. "You don't remember? I'm Masaru."

The four siblings just stared, trying to figure out who the psychotic man was. "Masaru," Saburo said under his breath. "You were one of the paramedics."

"Wonderful job, Saburo!" Masaru exclaimed, petting Saburo's head. "You remembered! For the less intelligent beings in the room, I was one of the paramedics who took Ayame's dead body out of your home!"

Naoki growled lowly. "Then how the fuck did you get into our home?"

Masaru rolled his eyes. "Well, think about it! Come on, I know you're a smart family!"

"When the ambulance came in, they needed the security code for the gate in front of the house," Keiko said softly. "That's how you got past the gate."

"Good, Keiko!" Masaru cried, clapping his hands together. "And how did I get into the house? Well, I just took the spare keys sitting on the table by the door!"

"You're disgusting!" Keiji yelled.

"No, this family is disgusting," Masaru said. "Not changing the locks on your doors. Most families as rich as you would have at least changed the locks twice a year. Crazy people would love to slaughter you all."

"Why the high school?" Keiko asked. "Why are we here?"

"Irony," Masaru said, sitting beside Keiko and wrapping an arm around her. "I decided on a location that would be in the center of the city."

"Irony?" Saburo asked.

Masaru rolled his eyes, pulling Keiko closer when she tried to squirm away. "You're all so dense. This family has always been the center of attention. I figured that if you're being held captive, that you should still be in the center." He smiled and kissed Keiko on the cheek. "Besides, I want to be in the center of attention with you as well."

"Get your hands off my sister," Naoki said lowly, and Masaru smiled.

"Of course," he said, and he moved away from her. He grinned at Naoki. "Protective."

Naoki growled again. "What do you want? Money? I'll give you as much as you want if you just let us go."

Masaru smiled gently and kneeled down in front of the oldest brother. "I'm not doing this for money."

"Then why?" Saburo asked. "Why are you doing this?"

"Ever since I was a little boy," Masaru said, sitting down in the middle of the room as if he were telling a story. "Ever since I was a little boy, I've wanted to be a Takishita. I wanted to play catch with Naoki, walk the dogs with Saburo, watch movies with Keiko, have heart to heart talks with Keiji… I wanted to be one of the children more than anything…" He smiled. "But we can't always get what we want, can we?"

Keiko looked like she was about to scream, while Keiji just listened intently a few feet away from her. "What are you going to do to us?" the darker haired brother asked.

"Kill you, of course," Masaru said. "If I can't have you as my family… Nobody can." He walked out of the room.

Keiko looked over to her brothers, who were all staring around the room, their eyes blank. Keiko was sure that her eyes were the same.

**

* * *

**

"Izumi!" Kouji yelled as he, Takuya, Junpei and Kouichi pushed through the crowd of people outside of the high school. Said blonde waved them over. She was right against the police barricades with Asashi, Michiko, Tamotsu and Tomoki. "Any news?" he asked as he stood next to Izumi.

"The police said that they've received word from the people inside," the blonde said, panic lacing her tone.

"What have they been saying?" Kouichi asked, looking up at the building.

"If anybody goes into the school to try and rescue them, they'll kill the family," Asashi said, gritting his teeth.

"Shit," Takuya said under his breath. "We can't go in and get them…"

"This is just crazy," Tamotsu said, clenching his fists at his sides. "What do they want from them?"

"Money, probably," Junpei muttered heatedly. "Do you think that they'll get hostile?"

"You never know," Takuya said softly. "They could just let them go."

"Then again," Kouji muttered. "They might not."

"Don't say that," Tomoki hissed, glaring at the boy.

Kouji sighed. "I'm just being honest here."

"Fuck you," Izumi snapped.

**

* * *

**

"What time is it?" Keiko asked from her position against the wall.

"Eight o'clock," Naoki muttered.

"We're not going to get out of this, are we?" Saburo asked softly.

"I don't think so," Naoki said.

"We're going to die here," Keiji sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "And I never…"

"Never what?" Keiko asked.

"I never got to tell Ayaka I loved her," Keiji said softly. He smiled bitterly. "I'm such a coward. And I can't even tell her now."

"I always thought you loved her," Saburo said.

"I think that she thinks I'm only using her," Keiji said.

"Why?" Naoki asked.

"She thinks that we're only friends with benefits," Keiji explained. "But it wasn't like that." He smiled. "She won't leave me though, even though she thinks that we'll never be anything more."

"Why didn't you tell her?" Keiko asked.

"Because I'm scared," Keiji said, chuckling dryly. "I don't want her to reject me."

"But she's in love with you," Saburo whispered.

Keiji shook his head. "It's not that simple."

Silence overtook the room, as the family thought about what Keiji had said.

"I wish I would have told people around me more things," Keiko said softly.

"You have a chance, now," Saburo said. "We all do."

They all smiled sadly.

**

* * *

"The drugs," Keiji said softly. "They were my escape. I was so close to mom and dad. It felt as if those were the only things that made me forget." He laughed bitterly. "Every single thing I did, I thought of them. Whether I was eating, watching TV, sleeping…"**

Keiko stared at the ground. "You were hurting us all, Keiji. Doing the things you were doing. I didn't know who you were anymore."

Keiji sobbed softly, shutting his eyes. "Neither did I."

Saburo stared at the ground silently. "It's my turn, I guess." He cleared his throat. "I got so s-scared when dad would get home when he was…" Saburo gulped. "Drunk… Do you guys remember?"

Keiko nodded. "Of course I remember."

"We've never talked about it," Saburo said. "So we may as well, now."

There was silence, then Naoki finally spoke up. "The night he hit me."

"In the beginning it wasn't that bad," Keiko said. "It was almost funny, because he was loud and he would dance all the time, but then…"

"Then he started yelling," Keiji said. "And then he threw things and he…" He took in a shaky breath. "Then that night…"

Naoki shook his head. "He looked so _angry. _I thought he was going to hurt mom…"

Saburo stared forward with sad eyes. "And you punched him."

"I thought he was going to hurt mom," Naoki said softly. "I couldn't let that happen. So I punched him." He shook his head. "And then he…" He traced a scar on the back of his hand. "I wanted to send him to rehab after that."

"We should have," Saburo muttered. "We really should have. It was only getting worse…"

They were silent for a while, then Saburo cleared his throat. "He was getting better after some time, though. He really was."

Keiko smiled. "He was…"

"Mom was strong throughout the whole thing, though," Keiji said. "She made sure that we were okay."

"I miss them so much," Saburo said softly.

"I think that their death made us stronger," Naoki said. "I think it brought us closer together."

They all nodded and Saburo shifted uncomfortably. "I have something else to say."

Keiko raised her eyebrows. She had an idea of what he was going to say.

"G-Guys…" Saburo said softly. "I'm gay."

Keiji and Naoki stared in silence and Saburo just stared at the ground. "I didn't want to tell you under these circumstances. I'm sorry."

Naoki sat up a little bit and managed to slip his arms underneath his legs so that his arms were no longer behind his back. He put his arms over Saburo's body and pulled him close. "Don't be."

Keiji nodded. "Why didn't you tell us before?"

"I was afraid of what you would have said," Saburo said softly. "I didn't know…"

"We're your brothers," Naoki said softly, pulling away. "And we love you. Don't worry about it, okay? You're gay, not a terrorist."

"Are you with that one guy that's always around? Akira?" Keiji asked. "You guys exhibit some bromance, so I was kind of suspecting that…"

"Yeah," Saburo said blushing lightly. "That's him."

"I walked in on them banging," Keiko stated matter-of-factly. "That's how I found out."

"KEIKO!" Saburo yelled.

"Wow!" Keiji said, laughing. "I bet you bottom. Does it hurt?"

Saburo gawked. "Guys! I don't want to talk about this!"

They laughed for several seconds, letting themselves be lost in the happiness they were experiencing. When the laughter tapered off, they said no more. Their throats were too tight.

**

* * *

"I have to go to the bathroom," Keiji said.**

Keiko looked up at him with exhausted eyes. They had been in there for over 19 hours, and they were losing all traces of hope. "Do you…?" she muttered.

"Yeah," Keiji said. He stood up and walked over to the door, kicking it a little bit. His arms were still behind his back. "Hey! Masaru!"

After a few moments, the man walked in and looked at Keiji, who was by the door. "What?"

"I have to go to the bathroom," he said.

"Fine," Masaru said, grabbing Keiji's arm and leaving the room with him, shutting the door behind him and locking it.

Keiko laid her head back down on the floor, staring straight ahead and wondering when the police were going to come in and save them, and what was stopping them from rescuing her family.

The door opened again, and this time it was Keiji, who's arms were untied. He slammed the door shut and ran over to Naoki.

"Keiji!" the eldest sibling exclaimed. "How the hell-"

"I told Masaru I couldn't go without holding it," Keiji said as he pulled apart Naoki's bonds. "Now let's go, he won't be unconscious forever."

Naoki ran over to Saburo, where he pulled the bonds apart on his hands, while Keiji unbound Keiko. The four stood up and headed to the door, Keiji and Naoki in the front.

"The easiest way out would be to go down the staircase directly to the left and to go to the basement floor. They have several exits down there," Saburo said softly.

"Alright," Keiji said. "On the count of three, we'll run. One… two… three!" The four of them began to sprint out of the room, but were stopped dead in their tracks when a gunshot rang through the halls.

The next sound was Keiko's cry.

**

* * *

**

Izumi and Asashi sat in front of the television, curled up on the couch together. Izumi was shakily slightly; she was extremely nervous. Asashi held her close to her, hoping to calm her down. The news was on the TV, where it was showing live coverage of the high school.

"Izumi," Asashi said softly. "It's gonna be okay."

Izumi nodded and pressed her face into his chest, taking in slow, deep breaths. "I know…"

"I promise," he mumbled softly, leaning down and pressing a kiss to her mouth, which was still shaking. Izumi shut her eyes tightly and allowed the tears to spill out of them. Asashi pulled away and brushed the stray hairs from her eyes. "Izumi…" he said softly, wrapping his arms around her trembling frame. "It's okay."

"But what if it's not?" Izumi sobbed, pushing her face into his shoulder and crying softly. "What if they get hurt or die?"

"They won't," Asashi said firmly, running a hand over her back. "They're stronger than that. They're going to be fine."

Izumi kept crying and Asashi kept whispering into her ear, hoping to calm her down. At one point, there was a booming sound, and the news anchors and police officers all hit the ground, screaming.

Izumi screamed too.

**

* * *

**

Well, that's all for this chapter! I hope you all liked it! Sorry about that darn cliffhanger. xD

The winner of the guessing contest was… (Drumroll…) EMPYREA!!!

She interviewed Kouji:

1: What do you hate and like about Keiko?

K: _(Huffs.) _Keiko. I hate that she thinks Tamotsu cares about her, I hate it when she acts like an idiot, I hate that she eats so many sweets, I hate that she makes herself seem like a victim at times, and I hate it when she acts like she likes somebody then dumps them and makes excuses. I like… her smile.

2. Why do you hate Tamotsu?

K: _(Rolls his eyes.) _Because he's an asshole, retard who thinks he's better than everybody else. But really, who actually likes Tamotsu. He's an idiot. Do _you _like Tamotsu?

3. Speaking of which… What would you do if Keiko actually ends up with him?

K: _(Huffs.) _Well, she _is _with him, now. They're dating. But if they get married or something… I'd feel bad for poor Keiko.

4. What made you change so much? You act a bit worse than before…

K: Nothing in particular made me change… Well, I guess you could say that Kouichi getting in a coma changed me and made me want to let loose, but… I guess maybe I am a bit worse than I was before.

5. Where on earth did you learn to cook like that?

K: _(Chuckles.) _That's the problem. I _didn't _learn to cook. The only thing my dad could make was toast and reservations. It's a hard knock life for me. That it is.

**

* * *

**

(You all didn't think I was serious, did you? xD)

Keiko cried out when a bullet whizzed past her and embedded itself into the wall behind her. Masaru was pointing a gun at them, grinning. "You really think you can escape me?"

Naoki pulled a gun out too, raising his eyebrows. "Maybe you should have checked us for weapons before you dragged us here, dumb ass."

Saburo held up a cell phone, smiling. "You should have checked us for phones, too. Retard."

Masaru just stared at them before clicking the safety of his gun off. "Well, I still have time to kill you all."

He pulled the trigger, and Saburo screamed when a bullet lodged into his right shoulder. "Saburo!" Keiko wailed, getting down to the ground and holding his hand. "Saburo…"

Keiji growled before rushing for Masaru. He managed to dodge a bullet before he punched the man square in the face. Blood gushed from his nose and he dropped the gun, screaming in pain. "You mother-"

The safety of another gun clicked off, and the dark haired man turned to his right, staring down the barrel of another gun. One of his gunmen…

A gunshot rang out.

**

* * *

**

"Please! You have to get in there!" Ayame cried, holding onto the SWAT team leader's arm. "My fiancé and his family! Please!"

Ayaka was standing off to the side, staring up at the building with wide eyes. "Keiji… Please be okay."

It was then that another gunshot was heard.

Ayaka's heart dropped.

**

* * *

**

Naoki stared with wide eyes and lowered his gun, which was still smoking. Keiji turned and looked back at him. "Nice shot," he muttered, standing up and moving away from the writhing gunman on the floor. Masaru was still holding his nose.

"Now," Naoki said. He walked across the room, pointing his gun at Masaru. "Call off your men. Or I'll kill you."

Masaru growled, but put his finger to his ear, where a small microphone sat. "Stand down. Get out of the building. It's over."

**

* * *

**

Ayaka and Ayame sat by the ambulance, shaking. All of the gunmen who had been in the building were out now. Where was the Takishita family? Were they okay?

Ayame gasped loudly and ran over to Naoki, who was exiting the building with a wobble to his step. He held out his arms and she let herself be engulfed by them. "I was so worried," she whispered softly, wrapping her arms around his waist. "So worried."

"I know," Naoki said softly. "But it's okay now."

Keiji walked out next, and Ayaka stared with bright eyes. She was about to run to him, but she stopped. Keiji waved his arm over. "C'mere."

The brunette walked over slowly, staring at his face as she came closer. He scoffed and grabbed her hand, pulling her into his chest. "Idiot. I was hoping for a dramatic scene where you would run into my arms and cry into my shoulder."

"I thought you were dead for a moment," Ayaka said softly. "I really…"

"You know better," Keiji said softly. "I'm not gonna let some obsessive freak bring me down."

"Keiji," Ayaka said. "I… love you."

Keiji smiled at her, pressing his lips to hers. "Good," he mumbled. "Because I love you too."

Saburo came out after, supported by Keiko. Two paramedics grabbed him and began to bring him to the ambulance. Keiko stared at the crowd gathered outside of the school, the crowd who was cheering behind the police barricades. She spotted a teen, who had a large grin on his face. "Hey, Akira!" she called, waving to him. "Saburo needs somebody to ride in the ambulance with him!"

The teen visibly had tears in his eyes as he leaped over the barricades and ran into the ambulance, hopping into the seat next to the bed.

Keiko smiled as the ambulance drove away. She looked at the crowd again, a feeling of pity in her gut when she realized she didn't have somebody to run up and hug her. Tamotsu wasn't there, and neither were her other friends.

"Keiko!"

The brunette turned her head and grinned as she was tackled by Izumi, who was pressing the poor brunette into her chest. "Thank God you're alright! Oh, thank God!"

Keiko smiled and wrapped her arms around Izumi. "Thank you…"

**

* * *

**

Horrible end to a horrible chapter. Sorry guys. D: I promise the next one will be better. I know that I was late again, but I really have been stressed with school and yadda yadda. Well, thank you all for reading! Don't forget to review!


	37. But It Doesn't Matter

**A/N:** I have nooooo excuse. I'm so sorry this is late. The holiday season was CRAZY. D: But I promise, this chapter will be worth your while!

Muse!Asashi: Hmph.

What's wrong?

Muse!Asashi: I don't like it.

Hehe, I forgot to mention that I play with a NEW couple in this one. There haven't really been many references to it in my story so far, but it's here with a vengeance. xD I'm gonna get my ass flamed.

Muse!Keiko: *Giggles* Probably.

Shut up.

**Review replies for chapter 36:**

**Celestial Writer: **Yeah, that chapter was a mess. *Points to holes in ground* See all the plotholes? Thank you very, very much for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter! :D

**Jennison Silverye: **Hehe, yeah, the kidnapper was a freak. xD I tried to trick the reviewers with the whole interview thing, and I think it worked! :D I'm glad you liked the chapter, and thank you for the review!

**Caliboy: **Yeah, I'm not actually sure if Keiko's going to tell her family or not, but you never know! Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter!

**LoveCherrySnow: **I know! I love Saburo too! He's my baby! xD I'm so glad you liked it, and I hope you like the next one! Thank you for the review!

**Empyrea: **I wanted to give Keiko and Izumi a little moment, because they seem to be drifting… Hehe, I tried to fool the reviewers there. xD Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter!

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **Deep down, you LOVE Ayame. Just like you love Tamotsu and Kouzumi. xD Ayaka and Keiji are too cute together, I have to agree. :D Naoki and Keiji are the bad ass mother fuckers of life. Srsly. Haha, PSYCH. Thank you for the review, and I hope you don't kill me for this chapter! :D

**My-Little-Star: **It's alright, I understand. I've been busy too. I'm sorry to hear about your parents splitting up! D: Mine split when I was a kid, too. But I was like, three or four. Dx Hehe, maybe that makes you paranoid like Izumi. (Muse!Izumi: Shut up.) I know, men, right? xD And I JUST got your PM. I'd be glad to judge in the contest! :D Thank you so much for the review, I hope you like the next chapter!

So, I've decided to let the next chapter be a viewer's choice!

In my **next chapter**, which would you rather see?:

1. A disastrous double date with Asashi, Izumi, Tamotsu and Keiko?

2. A chapter about (insert name here)?

3. Tamotsu vs. Kouji?

4. A chapter with some major (insert couple here) hints?

5. A showdown between Kouichi and Belphemon?

Hehe, you can pick two of the above, y'all.

Muse!Keiko: Ehh, just don't pick 1... Or 3... Please?

Muse!Takuya: Hehe, pick 1! _**AND**_ 3~!

Sooo, a reviewer asked what I would put for the this or that thing I did a few chapters ago… Here are my choices!:

1. Tamotsu or Kouji?  
Umm, it really depends. Right now, I kind of like… Tamotsu. But tomorrow, it could be Kouji. xD

2. Izumi or Michiko?  
Izumi, for sure.

3. Asashi or Tamotsu?  
Again, I like them both. But if I had to choose one, it'd be Asashi. He appeals to me a lot right now. xD

4. Keiko or Izumi?  
Hmmm. That's a good question. Tie. :D

5. Tamokei or Koukei?  
Ugh. I don't want to tell my reviewers which one I like more. I could get shot…

6. Takumi or Asazumi or Junzumi?  
Either Takumi or Asazumi! :D

7. Kouichi or Kouji?  
KOUICHI! :D

8. Who is your favorite character out of EVERYBODY?  
Kouichi and Saburo! Saburo's my baby! I love him so much! And Kouichi's adorable! xD But right now I've also got a thing for Asashi.

**

* * *

**

"Hey, Naoki?" Keiko walked into the living room, where her brother and Ayame were sitting. "Can Tamotsu come over?"

"Sure," Naoki said.

"I don't know about that, sweetheart…" Ayame said softly.

Keiko narrowed her eyes. "Eh?"

"Why not, Ayame?" Naoki asked curiously.

"Well, I just think it's strange that she hangs out with this boy so much," she said. "And the two of you aren't even dating. Or so you say…"

Keiko's eyes widened. No, they couldn't know about the two of them just yet. "_What?_" She gripped the necklace around her neck, the one that Takuya had gotten her for Christmas. It had a silver chain and a small green stone on the end. Kouji and Takuya had the exact same ones, only Takuya's stone was red, and Kouji's was blue.

Naoki tilted his head to the side. "You have been seeing that boy quite a bit." He narrowed his eyes. "Are you with him?"

"No," she lied.

Ayame looked slightly disappointed. "Don't lie to us, sweetheart."

"I'm not!" Keiko snapped. But she was.

"Go to your room, Keiko," Naoki said, sighing softly. "Tamotsu can come over tomorrow."

Keiko groaned loudly before stomping up the stairs, slamming the door to her bedroom and jumping onto the bed, burying her head in her arms. This _sucked._

**

* * *

**

"So," Izumi said softly, looking at the raven next to her. "How've you been lately?"

He shrugged. "I've been okay."

"We haven't hung out in forever, Kouji. I'm so glad you invited me to hang out with you." She smiled brightly.

"I've missed hanging out with you," he muttered, fighting the blush that threatened to come up on his cheeks. "We've all been pretty busy lately."

"Yeah," Izumi agreed. "You with your little partying thing, and I guess I've been busy with Asashi."

"Partying thing," Kouji grumbled.

"About that, Kouji," she said, sighing. "I know that like, eighty percent of our grade does it, but maybe you overdo it a bit."

Kouji narrowed his eyes. "And why do you say that?"

"Because you're going to several parties every week, and you're getting drunk and hooking up with all of these girls," Izumi said. "I mean, I'm not gonna lie and say I don't drink, or that our friends don't either, but I think you should try to do it less often. It could really hurt you."

Kouji rolled his blue orbs. "Okay, Izumi."

"I'm serious, Kouji," Izumi said, her tone becoming more scolding. "If you don't chill out with this, something's gonna happen, and you're really going to regret it."

"_Okay, _Izumi," Kouji said heatedly.

Izumi sighed. "Well, are we gonna start the movie or not?"

Kouji nodded and stood up, walking over to the TV and putting a DVD in the player. He turned the lights off and sat back down on the couch with the blonde.

Izumi looked at him sadly for a moment, before she scooted closer to him and wrapped her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder. "You know that I only said that because I care, right?" she asked softly.

"Yeah," Kouji muttered, moving his arm up to encircle her shoulders. "I understand."

"I mean, besides Keiko, you're really my best friend," she said, squeezing him a little bit.

He smiled fondly at her. "I'll be sure to think about what you said, okay?"

She smiled back and pecked him on the cheek. "Thank you Kouji," she said.

They went silent and began to watch the movie, but they didn't let each other go.

**

* * *

**

"Naoki?" Keiko said softly as she walked into his office. "I was hoping that Tamotsu could come over for dinner. I want him to meet you all."

Naoki raised an eyebrow. "We've all met Tamotsu already, Keiko."

"But I want to introduce him to you all as my boyfriend."

**

* * *

**

"It's different with you," Kouji muttered as he allowed the blonde to curl closer to him. "You listen."

"Takuya listens," Izumi replied.

"I know," he sighed. "But he gives me the same advice all the time. I don't know… Your thought process seems to be quite different from his."

"I think that you need him," Izumi said. "You two need each other."

Kouji sighed again, fingering the necklace with the blue stone around his neck. "You're right…"

Izumi smiled and let her head drop back to his shoulder. "I always am."

Kouji huffed a laugh. "Usually."

"Mostly," the girl replied stubbornly. She looked back up at him. "You wanna order some dinner or something? My treat."

"Alright," Kouji said, shifting so that Izumi could get up. For some reason she stayed where she was. "Well, are you going or not?"

She grinned up at him. "You're warm."

Kouji rolled his eyes and Izumi got up and walked to the phone in the kitchen, laughing. The raven's face heated up.

**

* * *

**

Takuya sighed, dropping the phone on his bed. He had tried to text Kouji repeatedly, but the teen just wasn't answering his phone.

Looking determinedly to the phone, he decided to call this time. After four rings, the raven answered.

"_What?"_Takuya grinned happily. "Kouji! What're you up to?"

"_I'm at Izumi's house."_

"Ooooh… And what're you doing at-"

"_Takuya, why did you call me?"_

"I just wanted to know what you were doing! Aww, can't a guy call his very bestest friend in the whole universe whenever he feels it's necessary?"

"…_No."_

"So cold. But I know how you really feel."

"_Look, Takuya, I'm gonna go. Izumi and I are about to eat."_

"Oh… Well, okay then. Have fun."

"_Bye."_

The call ended and Takuya sighed heavily and tossed the phone across his bed. He rested his chin in his folded arms and furrowed his brows. Since when were Kouji and Izumi so close, huh?

He and Kouji were supposed to be best friends! He gave him, along with Keiko those necklaces after all. Well, now that he thought about it, Kouji had been acting weird lately…

The brunette's eyes widened. Was he being replaced?

**

* * *

**

"So, Tamotsu," Keiji said, narrowing his eyes and plopping his elbows on the table. He folded his hands and rested his chin on them. "If Keiko, your mother and a puppy were all thrown into a pit of fire, and you could only save one of them, which would you save?"

The blonde's eyes widened and he gawked. "Hah?!?"

"Answer the question," Naoki said. "And be honest."

"Ah… Um…" Tamotsu rubbed the back of his head awkwardly. "I… Uh…"

"Knock it off," Ayaka huffed as she walked into the room with a platter of food. "Dinner's ready."

Tamotsu looked over to Keiko, who was sitting in her chair with her eye twitching. This was going to be a long night.

**

* * *

**

Kouichi looked around the large home nervously as Takuya stood next to him. "Uh… Takuya?"

"Yeah, Kouichi?" he asked, grinning. "What's the matter?"

"I've never been to a party before," he muttered.

"Well, you'll be okay," the brunette said, smiling. "I'm sure you'll have a wonderful time."

Kouichi groaned and nodded, following the slightly younger boy farther into the house.

**

* * *

**

"I just don't understand why you don't like Tamotsu," Izumi said, sighing exasperatedly. "He's really a nice guy."

"He's an _ass,_" Kouji replied. "He's nice to _you, _but then as soon as I come around, he's a jerk to me. He pretends to be nice to everybody, but I know how he is."

"You don't like him because he's with Keiko, and you haven't hooked up with her yet," Izumi said.

"That's not it," Kouji huffed.

"Well, from what she told me, she honestly thought that you liked her at one point. Like, during the play, she said that she thought you liked her, because you were being all nice to her, and then right after, you were trying to get into her pants," Izumi replied, twisting a strand of her hair on a finger.

Kouji rolled his eyes. "Well, it's not my fault."

"You were so denied," Izumi said, grinning. "By _Keiko, _who practically thinks you're inhumanly beautiful. How weird."

"It's not like a relationship was going to come out of it or anything," Kouji muttered.

Izumi sighed. "You can't just mess with girls like that. We have fragile hearts, you know."

"Whatever," Kouji mumbled.

Izumi looked down at her hands, her eyes sad. Kouji turned the other way, hiding the same expression.

**

* * *

**

Tamotsu's brows furrowed as he spotted a picture on Keiko's dresser. He got up from the bed and walked over to it, taking it in his hand. Looking closely, he realized that there weren't four children in this picture, there were _five._

The girl had blonde hair that just barely went past her chin. She was grinning happily at the camera, her bright blue eyes shining brightly. Next to her was Keiko, who was smiling as well. Tamotsu smiled. Her smile was exactly the same. She still had the same shy quirk of the lips. The two girls were about the same height.

Just as his eyes turned to an adult, who was next to the blonde girl, Keiko walked into the room, her arms full of blankets and pillows. Her eyes widened and she dropped the load in her arms, rushing over to the blonde and snatching the picture from him. "What are you doing?" she asked tersely.

Tamotsu raised an eyebrow. "Looking at this picture that I found on your dresser." Keiko was silent, so he spoke again. "Was that blonde girl there your cousin?"

"Ah…" Keiko walked across the room and tucked the picture between two books on her shelf. "Don't worry about it."

Tamotsu stared at her as she walked back to the pile that she had dropped earlier. "Well?" she prompted. "Let's make that nest and watch out movie, okay?"

"Yeah…" he muttered. He helped her pick up the bedding and they made a huge burrow made of blankets, pillows and sheets.

Keiko laid on her stomach comfortably and Tamotsu moved next to her, laying an arm over her back and pulling her closer. "This was a good idea," Tamotsu said, pecking her on the lips.

Keiko's face went slightly pink. Tamotsu thought it was adorable. "Well, my brothers and I used to do this all the time when we were little."

"Mini-Keiko," Tamotsu muttered before smiling. "You were really cute when you were a kid, by the way."

Keiko smiled. "Thanks…"

Tamotsu rolled over so that he was on top of her. He pressed their lips together. "But I think that you're even cuter now." He smiled when her face went red and she began to stutter something. "I like cute girls," he said. "I mean, I'm not a fan of girls that have too much sex appeal. I like _you. _You're beautiful, sexy in a subtle way… Adorable."

Keiko averted her gaze. "Th-Thank you, Tamotsu."

"You're too self-conscious," Tamotsu whispered. "You really are gorgeous, you know. But you don't seem to think that, do you?"

Keiko muttered something under her breath, causing the blonde to quirk a brow. "What, baby? I can't hear you."

"I said it's because I'm always with you…" she said softly, staring at the wall of their blanket nest.

Tamotsu squealed loudly and crushed the girl to his chest. "AAH! SO CUTE~!"

"I can't _**breathe, **_Tamotsu!" she wailed, struggling to make him loosen his grip.

And he didn't let go until their hideaway caved in.

**

* * *

**

"You're Kimura Kouichi, right?"

Said raven lifted hazy eyes to look at a girl with brown hair and dark eyes. She was wearing a pink halter top and tight jeans that accentuated her legs.

"That's me," he said, trying to keep his voice from slurring. He took a gulp of the can of beer in his hand. "Have we met before?"

"No," she said softly, moving to sit next to him. She rested a hand on his upper thigh. "I'm friends with your brother."

"What's your name?" he asked.

"Chiasa," she replied. She moved the hand up higher, then moved in so her lips brushed over his ear. "Would you like to dance with me?"

He smiled. "Sure."

**

* * *

**

Kouji groaned and clasped a hand to his forehead. It was sudden, and it caused Izumi to jump. "Kouji?" she asked softly. "Are you okay?"

"My head hurts," he muttered. "Do you have any aspirin or anything?"

"Yeah, I'll be right back," she said, getting off the couch and walking up the stairs. She headed to the medicine cabinet and pulled out a bottle full of pills. Filling up a glass of water, she brought two tablets down and handed them to Kouji, whose eyes were clenched shut in pain.

"Kouji, are you alright? Do you need to go home?" she asked, gripping his hand.

He shook his head as he took the pills and drank the water. "No…" He groaned softly again and gripped at his hair.

"Lay your head down," she commanded, patting her thighs. He stared at her for a moment, and she glared right back at him, patting her legs more forcefully this time. Kouji gingerly laid his head down on the blonde's thighs and she draped a throw over his frame. "You're shivering…"

"Well, I'm cold," he replied.

Izumi tentatively ran a hand through his hair. "You were fine a few minutes ago," she said softly. "But now…"

He nodded tiredly and shut his eyes tightly. "I know."

"I just want you to be okay," she whispered.

"I'll be fine," he mumbled, his hand clenched into a fist under the blanket due to the pain. "Just need to wait for the meds to kick in."

"Okay," she said.

**

* * *

**

"You're a good kisser," Chiasa said with a gasp when she pulled away from Kouichi's mouth.

"Well, I'm drunk," Kouichi slurred. He pressed open mouth kisses to her clavicle and began to unbutton the back of her shirt. His hands fumbled drunkenly, and she pulled them away from her.

She dropped to her knees and gripped the back of his thighs tightly. "Well, let me put _my _mouth to good use."

"Hey! Kouichi! Where are you?"

Said twin looked up and Chiasa quickly got back to her feet.

Takuya came into the hall and grinned. "There you are! I've been looking all over the place for you. Come on, we've gotta leave now if we're going to catch the subway back home."

He grabbed Kouichi's hand and dragged him out of the house. "Well, did you have fun?" he asked as they walked down the street together.

Kouichi replied by puking all over himself.

**

* * *

**

"_Keiko?"_

_Said brunette looked to her right. "Yeah?"_

"_What's your favorite thing in the whole world?"_

_Keiko stared at the field of yellow flowers in front of her. She smiled, and her cheeks flushed cutely. "I like flowers…"_

"Keiko? Keiko, wake up."

The brunette opened her eyes blearily and found herself curled up in Tamotsu's lap. "'Motsu?"

"You fell asleep," he said.

"Oh," she said softly, wiping at her mouth self-consciously, hoping to God she hadn't drooled or done anything embarrassing in her sleep.

"I have to get going, though," Tamotsu said. "My dad's here."

"Oh… I'm sorry I fell asleep, though," she muttered embarrassedly.

"Don't be," he replied, pecking her on the lips. "You're adorable when you sleep."

Keiko opened her mouth, then shut it, looking back down and blushing. "Uh, thanks. I'm glad you liked it…"

Tamotsu laughed softly and gave her another kiss. He stood up and waved to her. "Bye, Keiko, I'll see you soon."

She waved back. "Bye, Tamotsu," she said. He grinned and walked out of the bedroom and down the stairs towards the bottom floor.

Keiko groaned and fell back against the bed, her face heating up. "Oh. God. I fell _asleep _in front of him…" She though about what he had said, about how she looked adorable while she was sleeping, and she cackled out of hysteria.

This relationship was going to make her face a permanent red.

**

* * *

**

"Kouji," Izumi cried out helplessly as he dropped to the ground. He had his hands planted on the floor and his knees seemed to be shaking from the strain of holding him up. He gasped for air and cried out again as another wave of excruciating pain swept over his body.

Izumi dropped to the floor next to him, putting her arm over his back as he suffered. "Kouji, please…"

He began heaving raggedly, gripping at his head with one hand and raking his fingers through his hair roughly. The blonde pulled his hand from his inky tresses and gripped it in her own, allowing him to squeeze it.

"You're gonna be okay," she said shakily, tightening her grip reassuringly. Her eyes widened when she noticed his blue orbs began to change color. "KendoGarurumon…" she muttered. "He's changing…!"

She held his hand tighter and pulled him closer. "Kouji, you can't transform! Fight it!"

Kouji cried out again and his eyes clenched shut. She noticed a faint glow from his lower back, and she realized it was his tattoo glowing. "Kouji, you can do it. Fight!"

He let out one more strangled scream before collapsing against her, the tattoo on his back's glow dissipating. She stared as Kouji laid limply in her arms.

He was able to overcome his beast spirit…

**

* * *

**

Well, that's it for today! I hope you all liked it, because this bad boy is about half way done! :D Thank you all for reading, and I hope you review! Here's the interview!:

My-little-star was the winner this time. :D

1.) Who do you like more, Tamotsu or Kouji? Be completely honest.

K: Uhm, in general? I like them both, a whole lot. I think that Tamotsu's always treated me better, though. I'm not just saying that because we're dating, either. Kouji treats all women with disrespect, though. Besides Izumi…

2.) Where you scared the first time you beast spirit evolved and you couldn't control it?

K: Oh, I was terrified. I was afraid that I was going to hurt my friends. I'm scared now, too, especially after seeing what happened to Takuya. I don't want to lose control again…

3.) If you had never met the others, how do you think things would be for you now?

K: I think I would be more alone than anything. My friends are my everything, and if I had never caught that train, then I don't even know where I would be. I'm so thankful for them. *Smiles*

4.) Does it bother you that you and Kouichi were broken apart so easily before?

K: *Shifts* Um, yeah, it does bother me a little bit. I'm worried that that's a bad omen. But the reason we broke up was because… *Sighs* It's weird. Dating one of my best friends. I mean, besides Izumi, he really is my best friend, Takuya's about equal…

5.) Are you worried about ever losing control over your Beast spirit again?

K: Yeah, I am. As I said before, I saw what happened to Takuya, and that was really scary. I mean, Takuya and I were the ones that lost control of our beast spirits the worst in the Digital World. I'm worried that I'll hurt my friends again, or worse.


	38. Needless to Say, I'm Yours

This was by far my favorite chapter to write. It was so fun to do, and I actually got an early one out! YAY ME! I'm going to warn you though, this chapter is more humorous that dramatic. It's a comic relief chapter, I suppose. :D Thanks for your reviews!

**Review replies for chapter 37:**

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **Two words (and an emoticon): Fuck off. :D

**Celestial Writer: **Uh oh, things seem to be getting heated with Izumi and Kouji… Does this mean trouble up ahead? Hehe, Keiko and Tamotsu are too cute together. xD And poor Taku-poo! Thanks a bunch for your review, and I hope you enjoy this next chapter! :D

**My-little-star: **Ahaha, I sense some hatred against Tamotsu. xD I know, what do you think is going to happen to the others? Something bad, we'll presume! Kouji + Izumi = ?!? xD Yeah, Kouichi and his dirty little secret… Will he confide in somebody? Thank you so much for your review, and I hope you like the next chapter!

**Caliboy: **I know, this chapter was way overdue. Dx I'm so happy that my story is your favorite! :D Ooh, Izumi and Kouji… I've got a feeling that'll be reappearing again. xD Thank you for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter! :D

**Jennison Silverye: **Thank you very much. :D Aha, that's what everybody has said about Izumi and Kouji. xD Poor Takuya… I'm sure his problem will come to haunt us soon. Uh oh, is Kouichi turning into a Kouji? Oh, there will most certainly be some competition… in this chapter! Thank you so much for reviewing, and I hope you like the next chapter!

**Empyrea: **Ahaha, I know. Poor Tamotsu. Dx I know… Kouji and Izumi? Oh jeez, what am I going to do next? xD And poor Takuya… I wonder what he'll do next! Thank you for the review, and I hope you like this next chapter! :D

**

* * *

**

"Her," Junpei whispered. "Right behind me, with the black hair."

Izumi turned her head slightly, and stared at the girl that Junpei was talking about. She narrowed her eyes and turned back around. "She looks slightly suspicious…"

"I'm not even kidding, Z," he said quietly. "She follows me _everywhere. _I walk out of class, and there she is, standing at the door staring at me, I drop a pencil, she comes _bursting through the door _to pick it up for me… Hell, I had to go to the bathroom once, and she was waiting outside for me. I don't know what's wrong with her."

"She likes you," the blonde said, grinning.

"Well, I got that idea," the older brunette replied, rolling his eyes. "But it's starting to freak me out."

"I think she used to be one of Kouji's fangirls," Izumi said offhandedly, taking a sip of her milkshake. "She was the one who started his fan club."

"Kouji has a fan club?" Junpei muttered.

"Yeah," Izumi replied, digging into her purse and pulling a button out. It had a picture of Kouji clad in only a towel on it. "I'm an honorary member… But anyway, I wouldn't be surprised if you have a fan club soon, too. I mean, this girl is _crazy._"

"Oh God," Junpei mumbled, resting his elbows on the counter of the café. "Why? Why me?"

"Well, you were the one who decided to go and lose weight and get all hot and everything," Izumi said conversationally. "You knew what you were getting yourself into."

Junpei smirked. "You think I'm hot?"

Izumi nodded, smiling. "Yeah, and so does everybody I know. Like, all the girls on the volleyball team would gush about you whenever you would walk by all sweaty and everything."

Junpei raised his eyebrows and went back to his latte. "Hmm."

"Hmm? Hmm, what? You're beginning to sound like Kouji, only he goes, 'hn', like Sasuke and Neji," Izumi said.

"Did you ever notice that Kouji and Neji sound exactlythe same?" he asked. "Like, seriously. They sound _**exactly**_the same. It's crazy…"

"I know!" Izumi exclaimed. "I really thought that I was the only person that noticed that! I've never told anybody because I thought they would think I was crazy!"

"Same here!" Junpei cried. "I always thought it was just me, but then… We need to tell everybody!"

"I know!" Izumi agreed, grinning.

**

* * *

**

"All girls' tea party?" Keiko muttered, staring at her invitation as she and her best friend walked down the empty halls of the high school. "How old are we again?"

Izumi shrugged. "I don't know… But it's an invitation from that weird girl that's obsessed with Junpei."

"The one that started the Kouji fan club earlier this year?" the brunette asked curiously.

Izumi nodded. "Yeah. She's weird. Like, she follows Junpei everywhere, and it's starting to weird him out. She did that to Kouji, but it only lasted a day. Junpei said this has been going on for a week, now."

Keiko raised an eyebrow. "A week? That's weird… I think that something's up with her."

"Shh!" Izumi suddenly pulled Keiko around and corner.

"Izumi! What're you-"

"Shush!"

"Yes, I invited the pretty ones," a voice said.

The girls' eyes widened.

"I doubt that they suspect anything, they're only children after all."

The same girl that Junpei had been having problems with emerged from the bathroom down the hall, talking on a cell phone. "Yes, I have it under control." She smirked. "You don't know who you're dealing with sometimes, do you?"

Izumi looked at Keiko, who was staring back with wide eyes. "Lilithmon…" the blonde whispered.

**

* * *

**

"Are you sure that's what you heard?" Kouji asked the two girls suspiciously. "I mean, she could have meant anything."

"We're sure," Izumi said. "I know that smile anywhere. It was definitely Lilithmon, and she's posing as a student here."

"Well, what do we do then, it's not like we can just jump her or something," Takuya said. He sighed and laid back on Keiko's bed. "And she's way strong…"

"She _is_ having that party tonight…" Keiko muttered. "Izumi and I could-"

"The two of you aren't going to go alone," Kouji said. "It's too dangerous."

"Well it's not like you guys could come," Izumi huffed. "It's an all _girls' _party."

"Izumi's right," Junpei said. "It wouldn't look right if five guys suddenly strolled in…"

"Unless you all don't look like guys," Keiko said, smiling. "You could dress up as girls, and-"

"Hell no," Kouji snapped. "I am _not _going to dress as a girl."

"You're going to," Izumi replied. She smiled at the five boys. "You all are going to. And we're _all _going to that tea party tonight."

They all unconsciously tried to shield their crotches.

"Well, what time is the party?" Keiko asked. "Izumi and I have a double date at that new restaurant…"

Izumi picked up the invitation. "It's at ten… That should be enough time for us to eat dinner, then come back here and get you all ready."

"Why would a tea party be so late?" Tomoki asked, furrowing his eyebrows.

"Yeah, wouldn't it make more sense for it to be earlier in the day?" Kouichi asked.

"I know why!" Takuya declared. "Lilithmon wants to make sure that you're all there at midnight, so that you're tired and out of your wits! Then, she's going to have the chance to drink your blood while you're not on guard! She'll be able to sneak around in the night, like a _ninja, _and then she'll dump all of their bodies into a river, leaving a different set of fingerprints on each one, but in reality, each set of fingerprints belongs to one of the dead bodies!"

They were all dead silent, before Kouji stood up excitedly. "That's exactly what _**I **_was thinking!" He looked around the room, clearing his throat and sitting back down. "I mean, uh, that's a dumb idea…"

"You know, speaking of ninja, doesn't Kouji sound like Neji?" Izumi asked off handedly.

Everybody squealed in agreement, besides Kouji, who raised his eyebrowd, and Takuya, who scoffed. "Ahaha, yeah right, if Kouji sounds like Neji, then Kouichi sounds like Itachi, and Junpei sounds like Vincent Valentine."

"OH MY GOD! JUNPEI _**DOES**_ SOUND LIKE VINCENT VALENTINE!" Izumi screeched.

"He sounds like Orochimaru, too!" Tomoki exclaimed. "And Kouichi totally does sound like Itachi! Oh my God! I never realized that!"

"You know who else Kouichi sounds like?" Keiko exclaimed. "He sounds like Rude from Final Fantasy!"

"HE DOES!!!" Junpei cried happily. "HE SO DOES!!!"

"And-And, Kouji also sounds like Kadaj from Final Fantasy!" Keiko exclaimed. "And Hitsugaya from Bleach! And Izumi sounds like _Rukia _and Tomoki sounds like Kido from Zatch Bell, and Takuya! You sound like Mizuki, from that one episode of Naruto!"

"Keiko!" Tomoki crowed. "You sound like-"

"ALRIGHT!" Kouji yelled loudly. Everybody stared at the annoyed looking raven. "Look, we're getting off subject here. Who _cares _what we sound like?"

Tomoki slowly raised his hand.

"Tomoki, put your hand down," Kouji said.

"No."

"Put your hand down," he repeated, narrowing his eyes.

Tomoki put his hand down.

"Okay… So back on subject," Kouichi said, blinking twice. "Uh, so we're all going to dress as women and try to figure out what's going on with this girl?"

Both girls nodded, grinning. "I think this is going to be the best day of my life," they said at the exact same time.

**

* * *

**

"So why exactly do we have to go to dinner so early?" Tamotsu asked as he and Asashi stood at Keiko's doorstep after just ringing the bell, dressed in suits. The restaurant was expensive and extremely formal. The girls had insisted that they dine there, and the boys weren't able to deny them.

"The girls have some sort of party," Asashi said, adjusting his tie self-consciously. "They need to get back so that they have time to get ready."

"Oh," Tamotsu muttered.

The door swung open, and there stood Izumi, smiling. She was wearing a strapless red dress and heels. A red clutch with rhinestones was in her right hand, and adoring her left wrist was a beautiful red bracelet. Her hair was down and in waves that cascaded over her shoulders. She looked _gorgeous. _"Hey, guys. Keiko's coming down right now, she just couldn't find her other shoe…"

There were footsteps and then Keiko was there, one shoe on her foot and the other in her hand. She grabbed onto Izumi's shoulder and slipped the shoe on, smiling apologetically to the two boys in front of her.

She was in a black dress that cinched at the waist, with straps that were about one inch thick each. She was wearing black peep-toed heels and her hair was up in a high bun, that looked sloppy, but somehow perfect. A simple gold headband sat on top of her head and her bangs swept across her forehead.

"Sorry about that," she muttered, putting her other foot back on the ground. She smiled. "You all ready?"

Tamotsu nodded and put his hand out. She took it. "You look amazing." He looked at Izumi as well. "Both of you."

Keiko smiled as they walked down the driveway. "Thanks…"

They all got into the car, trying the best they could to act like mature adults, but when Izumi's favorite song came on, they all had to belt it out.

But at least they tried.

**

* * *

**

"How the hell did you get this table?" Asashi asked, his eyes wide. "Seriously, Keiko, how much did this cost you?"

"Nothing," Keiko said, shrugging.

"Seriously," Tamotsu echoed as he pulled a chair out for Keiko, Asashi doing the same for his blonde. "I'd feel bad if you had to pay thousands of dollars or something."

"It really didn't cost me anything," Keiko said. "We own the place."

Tamotsu's eye twitched. "And you didn't tell us?"

Keiko smiled at her boyfriend. "You never asked."

Asashi chuckled and looked at Izumi, who was looking her menu over. "What're you gonna get?"

"Hmmm… I'm thinking about getting lobster salad," she replied, smiling at the brunette. "What about you?"

Asashi shrugged. "I haven't really looked at the menu yet…"

Suddenly there was a yelp from Keiko and Tamotsu's side of the table. Keiko was gawking with wide eyes, and Tamotsu… Tamotsu wasn't in his seat, which was tilted…

"Are you okay?" Keiko cried.

"Fine," Tamotsu muttered, standing back up. "Uh, one of the legs of my chair broke?"

"Told you to lay off the hamburgers," Asashi mumbled under his breath, his eyes not leaving the menu in front of him.

"Go die," Tamotsu hissed.

"Yeah, no…"

A waitress came over and gasped. "Oh, are you alright?" She leaned over, showing off bountiful cleavage. Both boys' jaws dropped. Izumi punched Asashi in the leg. Hard.

"Oh, uh…" Tamotsu tried to keep his eyes from wandering. "I… Uh, my chair kind of broke…"

"Oh, well, I'll have to fix that for you," she said, smiling at him. Smiling at him _flirtatiously. _"She gave him a once-over. And I'm sure it's not because of your weight…" She sauntered off, shaking her hips like Shakira.

Keiko glared. "Izumi."

"Yes, Keiko?" she said through gritted teeth.

"It's war on this _bitch._"

**

* * *

**

"_You want to go tree climbing Thomas J? His face hurts… And where is his glasses, he can't see without his glasses. Put his glasses on! Put on his glasses!"_

Five boys sat on Keiko's bed, and all of them, even the stoic Kouji, were crying miserably at the sight on the screen.

"_He can't see without his glasses… He was going to be an acrobat."_

Kouji sobbed into his hand and curled closer to Kouichi, who was crying with th_e _boy in his lap. "Why are w-we watching this?" the younger twin asked shakily.

Takuya shrugged and sniffled softly. "I-I don't even know…"

Tomoki held onto him tightly and buried his face in his shirt, sobbing loudly. "H-He can't s-see without his g-g-glasses!"

Junpei got pulled over with Takuya and Tomoki by the latter, and held on to them tightly. "Why? Why did he have to go out into the woods? H-He was just trying to get her r-ring!"

"It's always the good ones," Kouichi cried, hugging his brother tightly. "It's just so _**sad…**_"

The door slowly opened, and Saburo's head popped in. "Uh, what are you all doing here? And why are you crying? Hey! Is that My girl?"

Nods.

"Make room for more!" the brunette exclaimed as the others readily made room for the other boy.

**

* * *

**

"You're on fire!" Keiko screamed.

"Oh, thanks..." the brunette muttered. "I did just get this suit..."

"NO!" the brunette wailed frantically. "_**LITERALLY!**_"

Asashi's eyes widened and he looked at his sleeve, which was burning. "Holy _**shit**_!" he yelled, waving his arms frantically. "Oh my God! PUT IT OUT!!!"

Keiko grabbed the pitcher of water on the table and threw it at Asashi, successfully putting the fire out, as well as soaking the poor teen to the bone. "Thank you," the brunette muttered. "_Darling._"

Keiko smiled brightly, ignoring the sarcasm in his voice. "You're welcome!"

"Ahaha, Asashi's _wet,_" Tamotsu said.

"Shut up," Asashi huffed. "You couldn't have just hit my arm with the water, Keiko?"

Keiko gawked. "Well, you should have stopped, dropped and rolled! If you had done that, we would be in this conundrum!"

The waitress came back and she gasped. "What happened?"

"Asashi got caught on fire!" Izumi exclaimed. "And Keiko saved him!"

The waitress smiled. "I'll get you a clean shirt…" She winked at both boys and walked off.

Izumi growled. "Dude, she's like seventeen, what's she doing hitting on a couple of fourteen year olds?"

"Umm, I'm fifteen?" Asashi muttered.

"So you admit that it's okay?" Izumi demanded, glaring so hard that Asashi was sure his eyebrows would burn off. "You admit that she's pretty and that you'd rather be with her?"

Asashi's eyes widened. "No! Baby, no! That's not it at all!"

"I thought we had a stronger bond," she whined. "And I thought that my boobs were enough for you…"

"But the waitress's were at least D cups…" Tamotsu muttered under his breath.

Keiko broke her glass on the table and held a shard near Tamotsu. "SOME GIRLS AREN'T WELL ENDOWED, OKAY?!?"

They were all silent. "We… weren't talking about you, Keiko…"

Keiko smiled serenely and dropped the glass. "I was kidding."

But they all knew that she wasn't.

**

* * *

**

"That was the worst date I've ever been on," Keiko huffed as they all walked out of the restaurant.

The date resulted in Asashi wearing a female's tank top with a cat face on the front, Izumi throwing her lobster salad at the waitress when she groped Asashi's ass, Tamotsu wearing an eye patch, and Keiko punching through the table with her bare hands.

All in all, it was a long night.

"I don't think this night could get any wo-AH!" Keiko dropped to the ground.

"Oh my God!" Tamotsu exclaimed. "You fell!"

"No shit," Keiko mumbled as she stood back up. She groaned when she saw that the heel on her shoe was broken. "I hate my life."

**

* * *

**

"You're home!" Takuya exclaimed, smiling at the two girls who walked into the bedroom.

Izumi tilted her head to the side. "Your faces…" She moved closer and put a hand to Kouji's cheek. "They're all red…" She dropped her hand.

"Uh, and you guys were watching My Girl and The Butterfly Effect?" Keiko muttered, staring at the DVD cases on her dresser. "Have you all been crying?"

Kouichi rubbed his eyes. "Um… Yeah…"

The girls stared at each other before they squealed and glomp-tackled them. "THAT IS SO CUTE!"

**

* * *

**

"I've never seen you with your hair down," Keiko said with admiration evident in her voice as she ran her hands through Kouji's hair.

He had his eyes closed, enjoying her ministrations. He rarely took his hair down, and he never really thought about letting somebody actually play with it…

It was nice.

"Your hair is so soft…" Keiko whispered. "And shiny…"

Kouji hummed in his throat.

"You're so pretty…"

One of Kouji's eyes opened and he looked at the brunette through the mirror, surprised by her last comment. She was blushing and paying rapt attention to his raven locks as she picked a brush up and began to run it through his hair. He smirked and closed his eye again, pretending to have not heard what she said.

He felt fingers weave through the roots of his hair and smooth it back. He nearly purred. Her hands slid down and rested on his shoulders, and she stopped all movement.

"Keiko?"

He looked through the mirror and saw that she was looking down at the ground.

"Keiko?" he repeated. "What's-"

"After that little… fight we had…" she said.

"What fight?" he asked.

"The time in the bathroom, after you and Tamotsu had gotten into your fight…" She blinked. "We haven't been as close since then…"

"Keiko-"

"And I'm sorry." Kouji stared. "Your friendship really means a lot to me, and I don't want to lose it because of a… misunderstanding."

Kouji smiled. "I'm sorry too."

"Are we okay, now?" Keiko asked softly.

He nodded. Keiko smiled and came around the chair he was situated in, giving him a quick hug. She quickly moved back to where she was.

He chucked softly at the brunette. "So what're you planning on doing to my hair?"

"Probably leave it down…" she replied. "But we need to put make-up on you. You still look like a boy with your hair down."

"Uh, was that a compliment?" he asked, puzzled.

"I thought you would've looked more girly with your hair down," the brunette said. "But I guess not."

"Thanks for the hope," Kouji muttered, huffing.

Keiko smiled. "It's like Neji…"

"Why do you always bring him up?" Kouji asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "Seriously!"

"Because you sound just like him," Keiko replied.

Kouji rolled his eyes. "Creep."

"Whore."

**

* * *

**

"Take them out," Izumi demanded, staring at Takuya.

"No," the brunette said, gripping his chest and the fake boobs he decided to install.

"Now," Izumi said, her temper beginning to rise.

"Come on! One of us has to have giant boobs!" Takuya whined.

"That's Izumi's job," Keiko giggled to herself. Izumi glared and slapped the girl upside the head. The brunette rubbed the back of her head miserably. "_Ow._"

"Give me those, now," Izumi snapped.

"Fine," Takuya groaned, putting his hands down his shirt and pulling out the fake breasts. It was a sack with some sort of clear substance inside of it. It looked like an implant.

"Where did you find these?" Izumi asked.

"In Keiko's drawer."

The brunette gawked. "WHAT?!?"

"KEIKO!" Izumi squawked. "Why in the world did you have those in your drawer!"

Keiko grabbed them from Takuya and threw them into her closet. "Because for Halloween last year I was Marilyn Monroe!"

They blinked.

"Marilyn Monroe has big ta-tas… So I needed some fake boobs."

Izumi laughed. "Are you serious?"

Keiko just stared.

Yes, she was serious.

**

* * *

**

"You guys look so cute!" Keiko squealed, clapping her hands together. "I need a picture of this!" She skipped to her digital camera, which was on her bedside table.

Kouji's eyes widened and her sped over to it, grabbing the camera at the same time she did and attempting to wrestle it out of her hands. "NO PICTURES!" he snapped.

"I'll take a picture if I want!" Keiko yelled, pulling as hard as she could. "Let go!"

"Sure." The raven let the camera go, and Keiko fell backwards. The camera flew out of her hands and crashed onto the floor, making a sick cracking sound.

"You broke it!" Tomoki yelled, his eyes wide.

Kouji gawked. "I-I-I…"

Keiko smirked and pulled another camera from behind her back, snapping everybody's picture. "Come on, now. I'm not _that _stupid. Of course I would have two cameras. Especially on an occasion like this!"

"Takuya groaned and slapped a hand to his forehead. "I hate you."

"Aww."

"Well, we really have to get going," Izumi said, looking at the clock on the side of Keiko's bed. "We'll be late."

They nodded and walked out of the house in a single file fashion.

Tomoki walked out first. He had on a black wig that Keiko managed to fish out from the attic. He was wearing a blue dress and white heels. He looked like a young girl, and he was quite adorable.

Takuya was second. He refused to wear something somewhat normal, so he ended up wearing the dress Izumi wore on her date. The girls had managed to straighten his hair from it's usual mess and they mad it look like he had a bob-cut.

Kouichi stepped out next. Out of all the boys, he definitely made the prettiest girl. Izumi made his hair pin straight, and it added a few inches so that his hair almost went to his shoulders. He was wearing a white cardigan and a red skirt with white flip-flops.

Keiko walked out next. She had her hair down and it was in loose curls. She was wearing a simple white sundress with white flip-flops.

Junpei came out after Keiko. He was more muscular than all of the boys, so he looked like a manly woman. Keiko put a blonde wig on him, and they tried to give him a womanly shape, but his abs were too tight… So they put him in a pencil skirt and a flowy top.

Kouji followed Junpei. He had on a blue skirt and a white sweater, looking quite a bit like Kouichi. Keiko and Izumi forced a pair of knee-high socks on him and literally _made _him wear wedges. He looked very unhappy.

Izumi came out last, looking extremely happy. She was wearing what Keiko had worn on the date, since Takuya stole her dress. She put her hair up in a high ponytail, and her blond locks were in waves, cascading a over her shoulder.

"How far away is the party?" Junpei asked.

"It's only a block away, we can walk there," Keiko explained, walking down the driveway.

There was a yelp, and everybody looked to the back of the line, where Kouji was on the ground, Izumi helping him back to his feet. "I _can't _walk in these shoes."

"Not with that attitude," Takuya remarked, slapping his own ass.

The raven's eyes narrowed and he ran at the brunette, who skipped away gleefully. "See? You can run in them, too!"

**

* * *

**

"This tea is drugged," Takuya whispered to Kouichi, who was sitting next to him.

"Why do you say that?" the slightly older boy replied.

"Because, Lilithmon wants to drug us all and suck our blood, then she'll-"

"Ah, never mind."

"So, what are your names, again?" the stalker girl, Hanako asked politely.

"Asami," Junpei answered quickly.

"Uh… Kohaku?" Kouichi said.

"Keiko!" Takuya chirped. Kouji slapped him on the back of the head. "Er… I meant Mitsuko…"

"That was very _unyouthful _of you to do, Neji," Keiko whispered to Kouji, causing him to tell her where to go and exactly how to get there.

"I'm Momo," Tomoki said, smiling.

"Rei," Kouji mumbled.

"Izumi."

"Keiko."

"Well, drink that tea right up," Hanako said, smiling as she walked over to the next table.

"_Don't _drink the tea," Takuya hissed under his breath.

**

* * *

**

All of the girls in the room were sitting exactly the same, all cross legged, with their backs straight. Their eyes lost their shine, and their faces were basically masks.

"Mind control," Takuya said softly, looking around the room for Hanako. "Where in the world is she?"

Kouji shrugged, standing up and attempting to shake some of the girls awake. "No idea."

"You were really right, Takuya," Keiko murmured as she put her hand to one of the girls' foreheads. "It _must've _been the tea…"

"Congratulations," a voice echoed in the room. "You're all smarter than you look." Hanako walked in, putting her hands on her hips. "But you're also quite dumb."

"And why is that?" Kouichi demanded.

"Because you didn't try to stop anybody _else _from drinking the tea," Hanako said, grinning. "So now, they'll do everything I say."

Izumi snarled. "You're sick."

"Shut up, Wind." So it was Lilithmon… "Everybody! Stand up now!

All of the girls suddenly stood up, their faces still blank. "Attack them!"

Izumi growled. "I'll take Lilithmon! The rest of you take care of the girls! Wind evolution!"

In a swirl of wind, Izumi merged with Kazemon and flew up into the air, attempting to punch Lilithmon, who easily dodged.

"What do we do?" Takuya asked as they were all backed into a wall. "I can't hit a girl…"

"Yes you can," Keiko said. "First of all, they're zombies, and secondly, you're all girls, too…"

Takuya smirked, his eyes lighting up. "Ahh…"

**

* * *

**

"Tempest Twist!"

Lilithmon crashed into the wall, groaning and rubbing her head. "She's strong…" she muttered to herself.

"Roseo Temporale!" Izumi yelled and she rapidly kicked Lilithmon with both legs even deeper into the wall.

Izumi jumped away, her eyes widening when she saw that Lilithmon was actually unconscious.

"I… beat her?"

The evil Digimon disappeared in a puff of black smoke and all of the girls dropped to the ground.

**

* * *

**

"I still think we should have waited for them to wake up," Keiko sighed as the seven walked down the street.

"It would be too suspicious," Kouji muttered.

"Well, can you at least use your Byakugan to check if they're alright?" Keiko asked, holding back laughter.

"I really hate you," Kouji mumbled.

"Aww."

"I can't believe you actually beat Lilithmon!" Tomoki exclaimed. "That must mean we're getting stronger!"

"Hopefully," Izumi said, smiling. "I felt an energy burst when I was fighting her… It must mean something…"

"Either we're getting way powerful, or they're getting weaker…" Kouichi said softly, blinking.

"Maybe it's both," Junpei said softly.

**

* * *

**

"I bet I can eat more chicken nuggets than you in three minutes," Tamotsu said to the raven across from him at the table.

Kouji narrowed his eyes. "Really?"

Tamotsu nodded. "Yeah."

"On your mark," Kouji said, glaring.

"Get set," Tamotsu sneered.

"GO!"

"That's disgusting," Keiko mumbled, staring at the boys stuffing their faces. "Why did we go to McDonalds?"

"Takuya wanted to play in the playground," Tomoki said, laughing when the older boy punched him in the arm playfully.

"Because I was really hungry, and McDonalds always serves food really quickly!" Takuya said defensively.

"Riiiight," Izumi said, sipping from her milkshake with a smirk on her face.

"Aaaaand… TIME!" Asashi yelled.

Both boys went right back to glaring at each other, which looked quite funny with the crumbs all over their faces.

"It's a tie!" the brunette said, raising his eyebrows.

"Fine then, we need a new contest," Kouji said, tapping his chin.

"What, is this Tamotsu vs. Kouji day or something?" Keiko muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes.

Tamotsu gawked. "I NOW PRONOUNCE THIS DAY TAMOTSU VS. KOUJI DAY!"

**

* * *

**

"This is stupid guys," Junpei said. "It's _March, _you guys'll get hypothermia and _die._"

"Well, the _real _man will," Tamotsu said, glaring at Kouji, who was standing next to him at the edge of Keiko's pool. "Losing your nerve, Minamoto?"

"Not likely, Tanaka," Kouji replied, narrowing his eyes.

Asashi found the whole thing amusing. "Ahaha! Alrighty then! Whoever swims across the pool and back first wins!"

"It's unfair that the two of you are wearing clothes," Izumi said, smirking deviously. "I mean, they might weigh you down. It'd be better if you two went naked."

Keiko gawked. "EH?"

"Good point!" both boys shouted in unison, shedding their clothes in record time.

"Oh. God," Keiko moaned, shielding her eyes.

"'Oh God' is right!" Izumi screeched. "Damn it, Keiko! I don't even know why I didn't believe you when you said Tamotsu's ass was perfect! Especially when nothing's covering it! Holy crap!"

"You've seen my ass?" Tamotsu asked, raising an eyebrow and looking at Keiko.

"Shut up! Just go!" the brunette exclaimed.

Asashi was laughing. "Alright! On your marks! Get set! GO!"

Both dove into the freezing cold pool at the same time, swimming straight for the end.

"This is crazy…" Keiko muttered under her breath again. "Seriously, why do they have to act all competitive today? They already had a ten minute long staring contest, they raced around McDonalds, they already asked random people on the street who was hotter… Can't they figure out that they're even?"

"Apparently not," Izumi said, rolling her eyes. "They're guys, Keiko. Remember?"

"Yeeeaaahh."

There were two simultaneous splashes at the edge of the pool, and Tamotsu and Kouji surfaced at the same time, yelling, "DONE!"

"It… was a tie…" Asashi said, scratching the back of his head.

"Guys, enough with the competition…" Izumi said, grabbing two towels and handing one to Keiko. "It's boring now."

"Fine," they both grumbled in unison.

Keiko walked over to Tamotsu and shut her eyes tightly, holding the towel open for him. "It's so damn cold," he said, taking the towel from her and wrapping it around his waist. "I think my balls drew into my body."

"You have balls?" Kouji asked, smirking.

"Yeah, they look a lot like your mom's," Tamotsu huffed.

Keiko rolled her eyes and held a hand up when he tried to kiss her. "You're soaked and cold. You can kiss me after you shower."

"Fiesty," Tamotsu said, grinning.

"Ass bite."

**

* * *

**

"Thanks," Kouji mumbled when Keiko handed him a cup of hot chocolate. Tamotsu repeated Keiko's words when she gave him a mug as well.

"You're welcome, Tamotsu," Keiko said. "And Neji."

"HE _DOES _SOUND LIKE NEJI!" Asashi and Tamotsu screamed.

Kouji slammed his mug down. "I swear to God, Keiko! If you call me Neji one more time, I'll-"

"What're you gonna do, huh?" Tamotsu yelled, standing up. "Don't talk to my _girlfriend _like that!"

"This isn't any of your business, Tanaka!" Kouji snapped, standing up.

"It is now!"

"Is not!"

And then, Tamotsu punched Kouji in the face.

**

* * *

**

"And that's why we don't start fights in front of Keiko and Izumi," Asashi lectured as the girls walked back into the living room with icepacks and bandages.

"Did you scold them?" Izumi asked.

Asashi nodded sagely. "I did."

"Good," Keiko muttered, throwing an ice pack at Tamotsu and Kouji.

Tamotsu muttered a thank you as he put the icepack on his cheek. "Uh, what are those two extra icepacks for?" he asked.

"Our fists," the girls answered at the same time.

"Oh."

**

* * *

**

"Patamon?" Takuya whisper-shouted, running up to the orange creature and hugging it tightly to his chest. "What are you doing here? And where's Bokomon and Neemon?"

Patamon didn't even get a chance to answer, as Takuya was tackled from the side. "Takuya!" two voices squealed in unison.

**

* * *

**

"And that's how we got here," Bokomon finished, looking at the seven legendary warriors in front of him.

"Can you guys actually stay this time?" Tomoki asked.

"That's what we want to tell you!" Neemon squealed. "We're going to be able to stay with you all for a while!"

"Really?" Izumi asked excitedly.

Patamon nodded. "Isn't that cool? We'll be able to catch up and play games and-"

"Wouldn't it look suspicious if one of us went home with three weird creatures, though?" Kouji asked.

"They could pose as stuffed toys," Keiko said.

"But still," Kouichi said. "If one of us got back to our house with three 'stuffed toys' I think our parents would wonder why…"

"Then why don't three of us each take one?" Izumi said thoughtfully.

"I want to go with Kouji!" Patamon chirped, flying into Kouji's arms and cuddling him happily.

"Uh, alright, I guess…" Kouji mumbled.

"Hmmm…" Neemon pointed a stubby finger at everybody one at a time. "Eeny meeny miney moe…" His finger landed on Keiko. "I'll go with you then, Keiko!"

Keiko smiled and Neemon jumped into her arms happily.

"I'll go with Takuya," Bokomon said, nodding. He opened his arms up to Patamon. "Mama's gonna miss you!"

"I'll miss you too, Papamom!" Patamon cried, rushing into his arms.

"Neji, you should activate your Byakugan. The moment will be sweeter," Keiko said.

"…"

"_Ow, _Neji. That was my _foot._"

**

* * *

**

Ahaha, this chapter was so fun to write. Thank you all for reading, and please review!

The contest winner this week was Sydneybell24! She asked her questions to Neji, er, I mean Kouji:

1. So, Kouji, have you ever been in love with anybody?

K: No. I've never been in love with anybody. I've had little crushes, but nothing major.

2. Out of all your friends, who do you think is the funniest?

K: Funniest? Uh, I'd have to say… Asashi, or Izumi. They're both hilarious.

3. Be honest. Could you ever see yourself getting together with Keiko or Izumi as something more than a hookup?

K: *Takes a deep breath* I really don't know. I can see myself hooking up with Izumi, more than I can see myself hooking up with Keiko. But relationship-wise? I don't know… I think I would be more likely to get with Izumi, though.

4. What are your current thoughts on Izumi?

K: I obviously like Izumi. She's one of my closest friends, and I have a little bit of a crush on her… But she's with Asashi, and I doubt that she'd break up with somebody like him for somebody like me.

5. When you and Keiko kissed at the play, what was going through your head at the time?

K: *Shrugs* Uh, I was thinking about how soft her lips were, and her body against mine. But then I thought, I'm kissing _Keiko. _Why Keiko? I began to think about what it would be like if she were Izumi for a while, when I pulled her closer, but then my thoughts drifted to Keiko again when Tamotsu called out our names. After that, I saw Keiko and Tamotsu kiss, and then I _really _wished it were Izumi that I was kissing.


	39. Love Me, Please

Eh. I'm soooooo tired. Dx In case you care.

**Review replies to chapter 38:**

**Celestial Writer: **Ehehe, thanks! It was by far my fave chapter! Thank you so much for the review!

**Caliboy: **They sound alike because they have the same voice actors. xD This chapter was just so fun, I couldn't even stop! Thank you for the review!

**Empyrea: **Thank you! :D Ehehe, I couldn't help it with the whole Neji thing, it was just too much. The ties made me laugh. I loved it. Thank you very much for the review! :D

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **Uh, yeah. I believe he did say it. Bitch. Don't worry, Michiko'll be here in this chapter! …Why would you say such a thing? Even if it were true? xD Magic. Anyway, thankies for da revoo.

**Jennison Silverye: **Thank you! It was my favorite to write! :D A lot of my reviewers are on the fence over who Keiko should be with. It's quite funny, actually, because I haven't even decided yet. xD Anyway, thank you for the review!

**Sydneybell24: **I KNEW THAT HE WOULD GROW ON YOU! I pretty much already replied to your entire review, so thank you very much~! :D

**D4RKWR173R5: **Thank you very much! :D Actually, Keiko is an original character. Thanks a bunch for the review! :D

**

* * *

**

"Mmmm… Your skin is so soft…" Kouji wrapped his arms tighter around the beautiful girl laying next to him. He buried his face in her hair, and took a deep breath, smiling happily. "And you smell so good…" Kouji squeezed her even tighter. "Oh, Izu-"

"Kouji?"

The raven's eyes opened and he stared at the pillow against him, the one that he had apparently mistaken for a girl. Kouji grumbled and buried his face back into the pillow, attempting to fall back asleep.

"Koujiiii…"

"Hn?" He opened an eye. Patamon was sitting up on his bed, staring at him with big eyes. "What do you want, Patamon?"

"I can't sleep," he said softly.

"Why?"

"Because my bed is uncomfortable," he murmured.

"Your bed is fine."

"It's a wooden crate," the little Digimon said, pointing to the floor. "It's not comfortable. You didn't even put a pillow in there for me."

"So?"

"Selfish."

"I don't care."

Patamon sighed softly and got back into his box, attempting to make himself comfortable in the small space.

Kouji squirmed, feeling guilt knot at his stomach. "Hn. Patamon."

"Yes?"

Kouji held an arm out and Patamon climbed onto the bed with him, snuggling up to his side and sighing. "Thank you, Kouji."

"This is a one time only thing."

But they both knew it wasn't.

**

* * *

**

"Aren't you hungry?" Izumi asked, staring at the girl in front of her, who was simply picking at her salad.

"No…" Michiko said softly.

"Michiko, is something wrong?" Izumi asked, looking worried. "You've been acting kind of weird, lately."

Michiko shrugged.

"Michiko… please."

"I've been feeling like the odd man out," she said quietly.

"Why is that?" Izumi asked, trying to encourage the auburn haired girl to speak.

Michiko laughed bitterly. "Because my two best friends _abandoned _me for some other girls, that's why."

Izumi's eyes widened. "I didn't know-"

"It's not your fault," Michiko admonished, going right back to playing around with her salad. "It's mine."

"It's not _your _fault, Michiko!" Izumi cried. "How could it possibly be-"

"Because I'm forgettable enough to be replaced like that," Michiko said. She shook her head. "But maybe if I got a boyfriend, things would be different. I would actually get attention."

"A boyfriend wouldn't help, Michiko," Izumi said. "If anything, you need to talk to Asashi and Tamotsu."

"You act as if I haven't already."

"What did they say?"

"Asashi said that I was being selfish and jealous, and Tamotsu told me that things would be different, and we would get together and hang out more often." Michiko blinked.

"And…?"

"Nothing's changed," Michiko muttered. "Sometimes, I feel as if there's something wrong with me."

"There's absolutely nothing wrong with you," Izumi said softly. "It's not you at all, Michiko. It's _them. _Listen, I'm going to talk to Asashi, and-"

"Don't get yourself involved," Michiko said quickly. "Please."

"I can't just stand by and let this happen, though," Izumi said.

"It's _fine._"

Izumi sighed and went back to her spaghetti.

When they were done at the restaurant, Michiko hadn't smiled once, or eaten a bite of her food.

Izumi was definitely going to talk to Asashi,_ and _Keiko.

**

* * *

**

"_Keiko, why did you run?"_

_The brunette looked to her right, where the slightly younger blonde girl stood. "B-Because I was scared."_

_The blonde sat down next to her, in the field of flowers. "You can't be afraid of everything, you know."_

_Keiko desperately wanted to deny that she was __**not **__afraid of everything, but she knew she would be lying. So instead, she responded with: "I know."_

"Keiko, wake up… Class is over."

Keiko opened an eye and groaned when she saw Kouji standing in front of her, shaking one of her arms. "C'mon. Let's get to the gym. I want to have time to actually _change _today."

Keiko sighed and stood up, walking with him out of the room. "I've been so _tired _lately," she said softly. "I keep having dreams."

"Maybe you're stressed out or something," Kouji replied half-heartedly. "I dunno."

Keiko shrugged. "Maybe."

**

* * *

**

"Can I talk to you two about something?"

Tamotsu nodded, smiling at Michiko. "Sure. What's up?" Asashi echoed the statement.

"Remember that time I told you that I felt like you were paying less and less attention to me?" Michiko asked softly. "I've been thinking a lot about that, lately."

"Yeah, I think it's gotten a lot better," Tamotsu said, smiling.

"I don't," Michiko replied bluntly. "I think, if anything, it's gotten worse."

Asashi sighed. "Stop crabbing."

"I'm not!" Michiko snapped, before she sighed again. "I just…"

"Michiko, we're really not ignoring you," Tamotsu said. "Maybe you're just overly stressed out about school and stuff and your _girl _hormones are making you slightly more-"

He didn't even get to finish his sentence, and Michiko slapped him across the face.

"Fuck you, Tamotsu." She turned to Asashi. "Fuck you, Asashi." She walked away.

Asashi smirked. "She slapped you."

"Yeah," Tamotsu grumbled. "And it hurt like a bitch."

"Well, that's what you get for saying something about hormones. Chicks _hate _that."

"You should've told me that _before _I said something about it."

"Well, I'm not a mind reader, am I?" Asashi asked, standing up and stretching. "But shit… That was the funniest thing I've seen all day. Thanks for that Tamotsu."

"I really hate you."

"You poor thing."

**

* * *

**

"You're really not going out tonight, are you?" Takuya asked, frowning as his best friend walked out of the shower in the locker rooms, grabbing his towel and wrapping it around his waist.

"Yes, I really am," Kouji replied, walking over to his locker with Takuya hot on his trail. He rolled his eyes.

"Kouji, every single time you go out and party, you get yourself into some serious shit. Just take a break for one weekend."

Kouji was silent as he put deodorant on.

"Look, Keiko and I are going to see a movie tonight," Takuya said, trying to convince Kouji to come with him. "Why don't you come with us? It'll be a lot more fun, _and safe _than partying, you know?"

Kouji rolled his eyes again, grabbing his boxers from his locker and slipping them on. "If you're really that freaky about this whole partying thing, then why don't you just come with me?"

Takuya sighed. "That's not the point."

"Whatever," Kouji muttered, pulling on his uniform top. "I'm still going tonight, whether or not you're coming."

"No, I'm definitely going!" Takuya blurted before he could stop himself.

Kouji smirked and raised his eyebrows. "Fine."

**

* * *

**

"We're _what?!?_"

"We're going to a party," Takuya replied as he rummaged through Keiko's closet.

"What? What happened to the movies?" Keiko asked, gawking.

Takuya pulled a bra out and put it up to his own chest, tilting his head to the side. Keiko grabbed it and threw it to the side. "Answer me!"

"Kouji's going to the party, tonight. I just want to keep an eye on him. You know how stressed out he's been about his math test." Takuya sighed. "And when Kouji's stressed, he drinks way more."

Keiko nodded. "Maybe we should all grab a bite to eat, so that Kouji doesn't get drunk as quickly."

Takuya smiled. "Good idea. Thanks, Keiko."

Keiko smiled. "No problem."

Neemon was watching the entire exchange, before he walked over to the fallen bra and wrapped it around his waist. "Look!" he exclaimed.

Both brunettes turned their heads and while Takuya grinned, Keiko's face turned red.

"I have a belt, too! Just like Bokomon and Patamon!"

Takuya began laughing heartily while Keiko squawked and chased the yellow Digimon around the room. "Give that back, Neemon! Give it back!"

**

* * *

**

"Where are you going, Kouji?"

Kouji glanced at Patamon before looking back at his reflection in the mirror. "Out."

Patamon tilted his head to the side. "You sure are trying to look pretty." He flapped his wings and floated over to Kouji, sitting on his shoulder. "And you smell nice, too."

"It's cologne," Kouji mumbled, swatting Patamon away, gently. "We humans wear it when we want to smell good." Patamon kept hovering next to him. "_What?_"

"Kouichi always says that he worries about you when you go out," Patamon said. "Why is that?"

Kouji sighed. "He just worries too much, Patamon."

Patamon flew back to the bed, plopping down on the sheets. "Maybe…"

"What do you mean, 'maybe'?" Kouji demanded, narrowing his eyes.

"It's just…" Patamon sighed. "I can sense the auras of the Legendary Warriors. Each has element has a connection with another element. I can feel the bonds between each and every one of them, some are weak, and some are strong."

"Okay…"

"Light and Dark, by nature, are supposed to have an unbreakable bond between each other. But I feel that the bond is being severed."

Kouji narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean?"

"The light is breaking it's bonds with the darkness. And now, the balance between Kouichi and the darkness that he possesses is off," Patamon explained.

"And what does that mean?" Kouji asked slowly.

"It means, Kouji, that the darkness will overwhelm Kouichi again, and you are the only one who can stop it."

**

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**

"I've never been to a restaurant where they sell only white rice," Keiko muttered, pulling her chopsticks apart.

"Well, it's the best white rice in _Japan,_" Takuya admonished, smiling at the giant bowl in the middle of the table that had rice literally _piled _in it.

"Food is food," Kouji muttered from Takuya's side. He pulled his chopsticks apart and began eating from the gigantic mound of rice.

Keiko shrugged and began picking at it, too. Takuya did the same.

"Wow… This is actually _really _good," Keiko said, blinking in astonishment.

"It is," Kouji said in agreement.

Takuya grinned. "Well, I'm always right."

"Tch."

"So, do you know who else is going to be there?" Takuya asked Kouji.

The raven shrugged. "I know that Kimiko's going. And Miyako."

Takuya smirked. "Which one are you hooking up with this time, huh? Huh?"

Kouji rolled his eyes. "I don't know. God."

Keiko furrowed her eyebrows and frowned. "You're… hooking up with… God?"

"No!" Kouji snapped, and Takuya broke out into giggles. "No, I said I don't know. Then I said God, in an exasperated manner."

"Oh."

Kouji rolled his eyes.

"You roll your eyes _so much, _Neji," Keiko said.

Kouji groaned and slammed his head down on the table as Takuya laughed even harder. "That's rich! I forgot about that!"

"God, why did I even bring you two?" Kouji muttered, sighing heavily.

"Aww!" Takuya squealed. "Because you love us!"

"I'm almost wishing I went alone."

"You are one _selfish _son of a bitch," Takuya said, laughing and eating some more rice. "Fer realllllll."

"Kill me."

**

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**

"I didn't know who else to talk to," Kouichi said softly. "Keiko's gone right now, and she's not answering her phone, and Kouji…"

"It's alright," Junpei said, putting a comforting hand on his knee. "What's going on? Is everything okay? You seemed really frantic on the phone."

"I can't get it out of my head," Kouichi breathed miserably. "I did something…"

"What did you do?"

"There was this party that Takuya and I went to," Kouichi whispered. "A-And I was drunk…"

"So?" Junpei said softly. "We've all gotten drunk at one point. It's nothing to be ashamed-"

"You don't understand," Kouichi snapped, harsher than he had intended. "I… I did what Kouji does."

Junpei's eyes widened. "Kouichi…"

"I didn't mean for it to be that way… I really didn't… I just-" Kouichi blinked back tears, willing them to go away. He didn't need to cry over something this _stupid. _"I love my brother… But I don't want to _become _him… I can't."

"Kouichi…" Junpei said softly. "You're not becoming him."

Kouichi buried his hands in his face and began to weep softly. Junpei blinked twice before pulling the boy over to him, allowing him to cry in his arms.

"It's okay," Junpei said, patting his back as a friend would. "It's okay, Kouichi. It's going to be fine."

Kouichi slowly wrapped his arms around Junpei's frame and sobbed into his shoulder.

Finally, Kouichi was able to relieve himself of the pain that had accumulated over the months. Finally.

**

* * *

**

"You're a really good dancer!" Keiko yelled over the music.

Takuya laughed. "Well, that's what happens after a beer or two!" Keiko laughed as well. "You're a good dancer, too!"

"I've been dancing for years, remember?" she asked, grinning.

"Well, I'm not _that _drunk!" he said, chuckling. "I was just trying to compliment you!"

"Well, thank you!" Keiko exclaimed.

"Hey, where's Kouji?" Takuya asked, looking around the room. "I haven't seen him in a while!"

"Well, let's go look for him," Keiko said, pulling Takuya away from the other sweating bodies in the living room. They headed up the stairs and looked around.

"Nobody here…" Takuya muttered. Keiko found a door that was already partially opened. She blinked and quietly opened the door. She gawked at the sight before her eyes.

There was Kouji, leaning against the bathroom sink. His cheeks were flushed pink, and his jeans were around his knees, revealing creamy thighs.

And there, kneeled in front of him, was some brunette.

Keiko squeaked softly and then Takuya grabbed her and pulled her away from the door. "Keiko! Did you see him?"

She nodded shakily. "H-He…"

Takuya blinked and peered into the door. He slammed a hand over his mouth and pulled his head away. "Sh-shit."

Keiko nodded and was about to suggest that they leave, but then…

"Ah… N-Natsumi… A-Ah… I'm going to… AH!"

Keiko's face went completely pink and Takuya's eye was twitching. He did _not _need to hear that. Seriously.

"Mmm. You sound so cute," a feminine voice said softly. There were kissing sounds. "But your face was even cuter."

"Th-thanks."

"No, I should be thanking _you._ I think that was the best experience I've ever had…"

There were more kissing sounds. "Hmm… I don't even think I want you to return the favor, anymore. That was much better than I had expected."

"Thank you, Natsumi."

"Fuck, you're cute." A giggle. "Well, I'm not going to bother giving you my number. I'll see you next weekend, maybe?"

"Yeah…"

"Bye, Kouji."

Keiko and Takuya ran down the stairs faster than you could spit.

**

* * *

**

"Um… Thank you, Junpei," Kouichi said softly, rubbing at his eye awkwardly. "It really meant a lot…"

"No problem," Junpei replied, smiling at the boy. "I hope you feel better now, though."

"I do," Kouichi said softly. "Really…"

"Good," Junpei said. "Do you feel going to get some ice cream or something? I get to eat it once a week. And I _really _feel like some right now. I think you could use it, too."

"Um, okay…" Kouichi said, smiling. "Thanks."

Junpei smiled back.

Kouichi had never been so grateful for a friend like Junpei in his life.

**

* * *

**

"I think we'd better get going," Keiko said to Takuya. "It's almost one in the morning."

"Yeah," Takuya agreed. "Let's head out."

"Where's Kouji, now?" Keiko asked. "Seriously. He's been all over the place."

"I don't even know. Let's check the kitchen," Takuya said, yawning and heading into the room.

And of course, there was Kouji, taking shot after shot for a cheering crowd.

"Yeah! He's going on six!" a boy shouted excitedly as Kouji downed the vodka in the glass.

"Shit," Keiko muttered as she and Takuya pushed through the crowd. The two of them each grabbed one of Kouji's arms and dragged him out of the room. "Sorry! Show's over!"

"C'mon, Kouji," Takuya said. "We're going home."

"Ugh… That's nice," Kouji muttered.

The two opened the door and walked out of the house. Keiko had only had a few sips of beer, and Takuya had only had two cans. They didn't even want to know how much Kouji had consumed.

"Hurry up, Kouji," Takuya said when Kouji paused in front of a random house, staring at the flowers in front of it. "Stop dilly dallying."

"Hmmm. They're so pretty," Kouji said, kneeling down clumsily and pressing his face into the flowers. "They smell like Izumi."

"Come on, Kouji," Keiko said softly, walking over to the boy and lightly grabbing his arm. "Let's get a move on."

Kouji gripped her hand and dragged her to the ground. He pinned the brunette underneath him and attempted to unbutton her shirt with clumsy fingers.

"Kouji, stop!" Keiko yelled, trying to push his hands away. She shrieked when Kouji began nipping at her neck, moving lower with each button he popped. "STOP!"

Suddenly, Kouji was gone, and Keiko sat up quickly. Takuya pulled the girl to her feet immediately. Kouji had a bruise on his cheek, and Takuya's fist was still clenched. "What the fuck's the matter with you?"

Keiko was shakily buttoning her shirt back up, her breathing heavy. "Sh-shit…" she was muttering under her breath.

Kouji tried to get up, but then he threw up all over the lawn. Takuya sighed softly and pulled Kouji's hair back while he was throwing up. "Kouji… This is really getting out of hand."

Finally, Kouji calmed down enough so that he and the others could continue their journey to Keiko's house.

**

* * *

"I'm sorry."**

Michiko's eyes widened. "What?"

Tamotsu sighed, fidgeting uncomfortably on the porch. "I'm sorry about earlier. I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Michiko sighed softly. "It's alright. I was being weird about the whole thing."

Tamotsu shook his head. "You weren't. Asashi and I didn't mean to treat you like that. Honestly."

Michiko smiled. "Thanks. That means a lot."

"But I've gotta go," Tamotsu said. "I've got an essay to do."

"Alright…"

"Bye, Michiko!" he exclaimed, smiling and waving as he walked away and back to his brother's car.

Michiko waved half-heartedly and then closed the door. "Bye."

**

* * *

**

"I'm dying…" Kouji wailed, leaning heavily over the toilet.

"You're not dying," Keiko murmured, setting another glass of water on the sink. She sat down on the ground next to the slightly older boy and rubbed his back as he began retching all over again.

Takuya walked in and winced. He gagged and then ran back out, slamming the door to the bathroom.

Keiko sighed. Of _course _Takuya hated the sight (and sound) of people puking. Wonderful.

Kouji finally tapered off into soft coughs. "I'm going to die. Give me a fucking pen and paper. I need to write my will."

Keiko rolled her eyes. "Men are such babies when they're sick."

Kouji began puking again, heaving violently and clutching onto the edge of the toilet seat. Keiko held his hair back.

"I… I think I'm done," Kouji muttered.

"Kay." Keiko stood up and grabbed the washcloth from the sink. She kneeled back down just as Kouji was pulling himself away from the toilet. He groaned and leaned against the wall.

"I hate this."

"That's what you get for drinking," Keiko said softly. She wiped at Kouji's mouth with the washcloth, then tossed it into the shower. She could take care of it later.

She moved back to the sink and she wet another washcloth with warm water. Kneeling back down, she wiped the sweat away from his forehead and cheeks. "Alright. Up we go," Keiko said, grabbing Kouji's arm and pulling him up to his feet.

She opened the door and led him out of the bathroom and into her bedroom. He dropped onto the bed with a groan and Takuya opened an eye tiredly. He must've been just dozing off.

"Lay on your stomach," the brunette male said.

Kouji nodded and complied. Takuya pulled the blanket over him, then curled back up into the sheets himself. Kouji was already asleep.

Keiko turned the light off, then she trudged back to the bed, flipping the covers up and laying comfortably on the mattress. "We need to talk to Kouji about this in the morning," she muttered.

"I know," Takuya said, sighing softly. "We do."

"Goodnight," she mumbled, shutting her eyes and drifting off to sleep quickly.

**

* * *

**

"Kouji, we think you have a problem."

Kouji raised an eyebrow. "Excuse me?"

"We think that you really need to stop this whole partying thing," Takuya said. "Something bad could happen. Something really bad."

The raven rolled his eyes.

"It's hard for us to say this, because you mean a lot to both of us," Keiko said. "But you could die because of this."

"You're my best friend, Kouji," Takuya said softly. "If you were gone…"

"Fine," Kouji said.

"What?" Keiko asked, shocked.

"I'll tone it down," Kouji muttered. "I… remember what I did to Keiko."

The brunette stared down at her lap. "Y-Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. I will stop partying so much," Kouji said calmly.

Takuya smiled. "Kouji…"

"Well," Keiko said. "Just to ensure that you stop partying, I did something drastic."

"What?" Kouji asked, his eyes widening.

"I've signed you up for the lacrosse team."

**

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**

Yeaaahhh. Not too much in this one. Well, read and review, please!

The winner this week was GirlsLikeeBoys! She's interviewing Keiji.

1.) So how long have you liked Ayaka for?

K: A while, I suppose. We've been friends forever, and eventually we became friends with benefits. And here we are now. *Smiles*

2.) What do you think is wrong with Tamotsu? Is it brain damage?

K: *Grins* Actually, he's a cool kid. And he treats Keiko well and makes her happy, so I can't complain about shit with that brat. And he has a sweet ass.

3.) Don't you think Keiko is better off with that ravenette with the ponytail?? Oh, what's his name… Shmouji?

K: *Shrugs* I don't know. Kouji, as far as I know, is a little punk. He reminds me way too much of myself when I was fifteen and sixteen. And I don't want Keiko dating somebody that acts the way I did back then.

4.) Do you think Keiko and her friends are… suspicious sometimes?

K: *Narrows eyes* Hmm… Well, that Kouichi fellow and Kouji sure do look alike… Hmmm…

5.) Where did you learn to be such a bad ass?

K: I went to the fucking school of bad ass mother fuckers. No. I don't really know. That's just how I roll… Don't tell Ayaka I said that. Okay?


	40. We Were Young, We Were Free

**Review replies for chapter 39:**

**Celestial writer: **I know! A lot of sad things happened in that chapter. Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter! :D

**Caliboy: **Ahaha, all of your reviews amuse me to no end. xD Thanks a bunch for the review, and I hope you like this chapter!

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **I do lie, don't I? Because I like to turn around and hurt you. xD You like Izumi. And Tamotsu. And (alive) Ayame. xD Thanks fo the review, and I hope you like your chapter!

**D4RKWR173R5: **Thank you so much! My favorite season is definitely season four. :D And don't worry, Kouji'll turn around. Thank you so much for your review, and I hope you like the next chapter! :D

**Empyrea: **Takuya and Michiko are beasts. xD Patamon certainly had some important information, but will Kouji listen? Thank you for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter! :D

**

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**

This chapter was a request for my dear friend, GirlsLikeeBoys. I LURVE YOU BABEH!

Soo. From now on, I'm going to issue a warning in each chapter, as they'll begin to have certain… Ahem, things in them. Sooooo, it'll warn against violence, alcohol, sexual shtuff, the like. And, uh, if it's sexual, it'll say, mild, moderate or graphic next to it. Oh, you'll be able to skip the lemony parts. When there're full lemons in later chapters, I'll have two different chapters. The first one will be the clean version, and the second one will have the lemon, for those interested. :D

**

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**

**Warning: Sexual themes: In the beginning of the chapter (moderate).**

**

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**

"_Keiko, what's your favorite thing in the whole world?"_

"_I like flowers…"_

**

* * *

**

"Keiko, do you think that you're on wikipedia?" Tamotsu asked as the brunette finished typing some homework up.

"Huh?" Keiko turned and shrugged. "I don't know."

"Hmph…" Tamotsu stared at the girl for several moments. "It's April sixteenth."

Keiko's lip twitched and she nodded. "Sure is."

"Huh. Let's make out."

"_Huh?_"

"Let's. Make. Out."

Keiko blinked. "Um. Okay?"

Tamotsu grinned and opened up his arms. "Straddle me, baby!"

Keiko was about to, then she noticed the yellow Digimon sitting on her bookshelf, posed as a stuffed animal. "Eh. Hang on a moment."

She walked over to Neemon and lifted him up, bringing him into the bathroom. "Do _not _open the door," she hissed.

"Why not, Keiko?" Neemon asked in his high pitched voice.

"Just don't. Please, Neemon?"

The yellow Digimon nodded and smiled. "Okay!"

"Thank you so much, Neemon," she said, shutting the door behind her. Tamotsu was staring at her, his eyebrow raised. "What?" she asked.

"You put a stuffed animal in the bathroom," Tamotsu said, blinking.

"Uh, yeah, well I don't like the scrutiny very much," Keiko replied, walking over and climbing into his lap.

Tamotsu grinned and laid her back on the bed. "You're so cute. I can't stand it sometimes."

Keiko smiled and sighed softly when he lowered his mouth to hers. For some reason, even though they'd been together for a few months, the feeling of his body against her own made her feel chest flutter. She didn't want to be like a blushing virgin, even though she _was, _but she always felt that way with him.

Tamotsu's hands wandered to her hips and she made a sound at the back of her throat. He pulled away, concern in his eyes. "Too fast?" he asked softly.

She shook her head. "No. It's just… _you._"

Tamotsu's lips quirked. "Thanks."

Before she could even reply, his lips were back, and more aggressive than before. She didn't seem to mind. Her arms went around his neck and his hands glided down her sides, moving across the curves of her waist and hips. They moved past her school skirt and to her thighs, right to where it hemmed. "Keiko…" he murmured.

The brunette felt as if her heart was going to pop out of her chest. Honestly, the two of them hadn't gotten terribly far, hell, the most they had ever done was make out like beasts. She knew that they were going to move forward today.

Tamotsu's hands moved back up, and Keiko's skirt went up slightly. His hands moved to her vest, which he pulled over her head quickly. Next they went to unbuttoning her shirt. He kept kissing her the entire time. "Too many clothes," he murmured.

She nodded and sat up, so that his legs were open and that was in between them, raised up on her knees. The sleeve of her shirt began to slide down the smooth curve of her shoulder, revealing a black strap from her bra.

Keiko unbuttoned Tamotsu's shirt in record time. He grinned. "Eager?"

She nodded. "I've seen you naked before. Of course I'm eager."

Tamotsu laughed as Keiko pulled his shirt off and ran her hands down the smooth expanse of his chest.

The blonde hummed in his throat when Keiko pressed their lips together again. "Hey, Keiko?" he asked.

"Hmm?"

"Remember a few weeks ago, when Kouji and I swam naked in your pool?"

Keiko's cheeks went pink. "Yeah."

"Well, Izumi said that you'd already seen my ass before. What does that mean?" He sat up, tilting his head.

"Well, uh, I was getting ready for our championship game, and the girls' locker room was locked, and I really needed a shower, so I went into the boys' locker room. Just as I was finishing up, somebody came in, so I hid in a locker. Uh, that somebody was you." Keiko rubbed her arm awkwardly. "You sort of bent over and-"

Tamotsu began to laugh. "That's why you were acting so awkward that night!"

"It's not funny!" Keiko crowed, smacking him playfully on the arm. "I didn't try to-"

"You're too funny," Tamotsu said, patting the brunette's head. "God."

Keiko huffed, and Tamotsu wrapped his arms around her, pinning her down to the bed in front of him. "Now… where were we?"

Keiko didn't have to answer. Tamotsu had his lips pressed to hers in an instant, and he ground his hips against her own. Keiko groaned softly, and arched against him, hoping to relieve some of the pressure building in her loins.

Tamotsu smirked and moved his hand up her thigh and under her skirt, continuing to press kisses to the girl's lips. Keiko moaned when Tamotsu's finger came into contact with something that had never been touched so intimately before. She murmured against his lips when the finger slowly moved up and down.

Keiko grabbed Tamotsu through his jeans, causing him to make a pained sound in his throat and thrust against her palm. The brunette grinned and pushed against him again, and Tamotsu's finger left, his hand moving back to her thigh to grip it tightly, as the other gripped at the bed sheets.

And before she knew it, Tamotsu's back was against her chest, and his pants and boxers were around his ankles, and she was murmuring husky encouragements in his ear as he twitched against her.

Her hand began moving faster, and Tamotsu grabbed at the bed sheets, groaning heavily, his toes curling and his knees bending in slightly.

Keiko quite liked being in control like this. She was the one in charge of making him cry out, the one who kept him on the edge of control. And she was the only one who could give him the relief he had been wanting for almost ten minutes, now.

"Keiko…" Tamotsu breathed.

With a flick of her wrist, Tamotsu was arched against her, crying out loudly as white spurts literally _flew _through the air. Keiko's eyes widened and she moved her hand faster, hoping to prolong his orgasm.

Tamotsu choked on air as he tapered away from his peak. His chest was heaving, and he just stared at the wall in front of him, blinking.

Keiko smiled and pressed a kiss to his temple. Damn, she was proud of herself. Maybe she was just a control freak.

"Um…"

Keiko was cackling in her mind. Finally, it was her that made the blonde speechless. Payback sure is a bitch.

"That was…"

"Aww," Keiko said teasingly. "You're _so _cute."

"Ah… Thanks…" Tamotsu shakily pulled his pants and boxers back up, and he looked at the brunette with red cheeks. "Do you want me to…? Um, do you want me to?"

Keiko shook her head. "No. Maybe some other time. You look tired." She couldn't help but tease him a little bit. After all the times he made her stutter and stumble over her own words, it was time for her to push him.

Tamotsu was silent again, and he scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Okay…"

Keiko dragged him over to her again, kissing him. "I can't wait to do that again…" she murmured.

**

* * *

**

"Kouichi, I really think you should talk to Kouji…" Patamon said softly.

Kouichi shook his head. "I don't want to very much, Patamon."

"Kouichi… Darkness needs light," the small orange Digimon said softly. "And without light, you'll-"

"Patamon." Kouichi's eyes narrowed. "I said that I don't want to talk about it."

The Digimon looked sad. "I was just trying to help."

"You're not helping," the raven said harshly. "You're just harassing me."

"I'm sorry." Patamon flapped his way across the room and sat on the desk.

Kouichi blinked a few times. What the hell was _that? _Since when did he talk to Patamon, or _anybody _for that matter, like that? The little guy was only trying to help, after all.

The door opened and Kouji walked in with two sodas and a bowl of popcorn. "Ready?"

Nobody replied. Kouji tilted his head, staring at the silent Kouichi and the sad Patamon. "Hey, Patamon, what's wrong?"

"Nothing," the small Digimon said.

"Kouichi?"

The older twin smiled up at his brother and took a soda from his hand. "So, what movie are we going to watch?"

**

* * *

**

"I'm pretty sure that this is the dumbest idea I've ever heard of," Tomoki muttered. "Seriously."

"Come on, Tomoki! Just type in your name!" Takuya said, shaking the boy's shoulders.

Tomoki shook his head. "It's eHarmony for people who are over 18? I'm only twelve."

"Yeah, well, you're mature for your age," Junpei huffed. "Now type your name in before I do it for you!"

"Fine!" The young brunette finished writing up his profile before entering it into the database. "There, are you happy now?"

Takuya grinned. "Very."

"I really think that this is a bad idea," Tomoki said. "I mean, what if some 23 year old or something starts talking to me and they find out I'm just a kid? I could get arrested for that."

"No, you couldn't," Junpei said. "Because according to this, you're 21. And besides, if she gets serious about you, you could always tell her that you're not into her and that things can't work out."

"I can't believe I'm doing this," Tomoki groaned.

"Well, you need a girlfriend," Takuya said. "And it's obvious that you're sexually repressed."

"Sexually repressed?!?" Tomoki yelled. "I'm TWELVE! I barely even know what I'm supposed to do with my d-"

"You have a message!" Junpei yelled, pointing to the computer screen. "Ooh, Tomoki's popular."

"Her name is Momoe-"

**

* * *

**

"Your name is Momoe, and you're a horseback riding activist. You're five feet, five inches, and you have blonde hair with brown eyes. Your favorite color is-"

"What?" Michiko demanded. "You signed me up for eHarmony? Are you _insane?_"

Keiko and Izumi shook their heads. "Look," Izumi said softly. "We're really just trying to help. I mean, you've been so stressed out about Asashi and Tamotsu, that you've been unable to get guys, which is why-"

"I don't _need _a boyfriend!" Michiko yelled. "I'm perfectly able to get boys without having to do it online! Come on guys, it's really not even funny!"

"Well, somebody's already showing interest," Keiko said, pointing to her computer. "His name is Takashi. He's a lifeguard… Oooohhh… and he has brown hair, green eyes, and he loves dancing."

"He sounds cute…" Izumi said, smirking. "And he's only twenty one. Hey, maybe if you two get to know each other, you'll be able to tell him how old you really are, and if he's in love with you, he'll accept you for who you are, and-"

"This isn't a movie, Izumi," Michiko said. "Things aren't going to work like that. I'm fourteen years old and-"

"Almost fifteen."

"-I'm not ready for some stupid drama like that." Michiko crossed her arms over her chest. "There is no way in hell, that I'm talking to him."

Izumi narrowed her eyes.

**

* * *

**

"You look exhausted," Tamotsu said, staring at the auburn haired girl as she walked with him to their next class.

"I was up all night talking to Takashi," Michiko said dreamily, staring up at the ceiling. "He's so cute."

"Takashi?" Tamotsu raised an eyebrow. "Does he go to our school?"

Michiko shook her head. "No… He's _older._"

"Older…" Tamotsu muttered. "Just _how _old are we talking here? A year? Two?"

"Seven."

Tamotsu gawked. "_Seven?!? _Isn't that a little bit excessive? Seven years is a lot!"

"Well, I'm mature enough to handle it," Michiko replied. "He's what I've been looking for. He's a _real _man."

Tamotsu sighed. "Whatever."

**

* * *

**

"This is a joke, right?" Tamotsu asked. "You're _really _joining the lacrosse team?"

Kouji glared at the blonde. "Yes, I'm really joining the lacrosse team."

"Why?" the blonde asked.

"Because, Keiko's making me," Kouji replied. "She thinks it'll help me stop partying."

"It's not going to be easy you know," Tamotsu said. "Lacrosse isn't something that you can just pick up in two seconds. It takes a lot of hard work."

"I know," Kouji said through gritted teeth. "Which is why I'm asking you to _help_ me."

Tamotsu raised his eyebrows. "You're coming to _me, _of all people. I mean, you _hate _me, and you're coming to me? Why don't you go to the coach, or Asashi?"

"Because Keiji hates me," Kouji muttered. "And Asashi's out of town until tomorrow.

Tamotsu's eyes widened. "Keiji's coaching?"

"Yep."

"Shit." Tamotsu ran a hand through his hair. "Of course."

"Well, are you going to help me out or not?" Kouji demanded. "Practice starts in two days, and I don't know shit about lacrosse."

"Fine. But you have to do something for me," Tamotsu replied.

"What?" Kouji asked, exasperatedly.

"Teach me…" He looked around the room and then whispered something in Kouji's ear.

Kouji stared for a moment, then he nodded slowly, a grin slowly spreading over his features. "Why, you don't know how to make Keiko-"

"Fuck, it's not that!" Tamotsu snarled. "I haven't done that with her yet! But when we do, I want to be good at it."

Kouji began laughing. "The two of you've been together for like, four months, and you haven't even-"

"Do you want me to help you or not?" Tamotsu snapped. "Because I'll walk away right now, you little fucker."

"No!" Kouji said, still laughing helplessly. He cleared his throat. "No, no. I still want your help." He took a deep breath. "Okay. So, what do I do first?"

"Well, do you have a lacrosse stick and the equipment needed?" Tamotsu asked.

Kouji blinked twice. "Uh…"

Tamotsu sighed. "You know, there're tryouts, and there are also _cuts. _I'm going to make you work your ass off."

"Good."

**

* * *

**

"Tamotsu probably has the sweetest ass I've ever seen in my life," Izumi said off-handedly as the girls watched Kouji and Tamotsu practice in Keiko's backyard.

"I know," Michiko said, nodding.

Keiko smirked devilishly to herself.

"Seriously. It's so compact, but it still looks nice and-"

"Izumi…" Keiko muttered, staring at the blonde. "We don't need to talk about that. I'm sitting right here."

The blonde rolled her eyes. "Just stating the obvious. I mean, I'm not saying Asashi doesn't have a nice ass or whatever, but _Tamotsu's _is just-"

"Izumi."

Izumi grinned sheepishly. "Sorry, Keiko."

"Why did Kouji suddenly decide to join the lacrosse team, anyway?" Michiko asked softly, staring intently at the two teens.

"I signed him up," Keiko replied. "I'm hoping that he'll chill out a little bit because of it."

"I doubt it," Izumi muttered honestly. "I mean, we're talking Kouji here. He wouldn't stop for something like a team."

Keiko sighed, fingering the green stone around her neck. "That's what I'm afraid of."

**

* * *

**

"How'd I do?" Kouji asked breathlessly as he sat towel dried his hair in the locker room.

"Pretty damned good," Asashi said, smiling. "You might've even made it on the team."

Kouji grinned. "Thanks. I'm gonna be sore for weeks though, if I make it, that is."

"You should've seen Tamotsu on his first couple of weeks," Asashi said. "We were seven, and he started crying after practice one day because he was so sore, so I had to carry him home."

Kouji began laughing, and Tamotsu huffed, slinging his bag over her shoulder. "Well, I'm only human… You still need a ride Asashi?"

"Yeah," the brunette said, tying his shoe up.

"Minamoto?" Tamotsu questioned without any hatred in his voice.

Kouji raised his eyebrows. "Uh, yeah, sure."

"Well, hurry up, guys," Tamotsu said. "My brother'll have a cow if you don't hurry your sweet asses up."

"The only one with a sweet ass here is you," Asashi said, snapping his best friend in the rump with his towel. "Ready, Kouji?"

The ravenette smiled and nodded. "Yeah."

**

* * *

**

"I've never met somebody so deep," Tomoki said to Takuya, sighing serenely. "I mean, she's so honest, and loving… She's real. She's really something."

"Tomoki," Takuya said softly. "She's almost ten years older than you."

"I don't care," Tomoki said. "I think I'm in love with her."

Takuya stared after the brunette with soft eyes. "What have I done?"

**

* * *

**

"You're on the team."

Kouji's eyes widened. "Really?"

Tamotsu nodded. "Thanks to my fantastic training."

"Wow…"

"Well, don't just stand there gawking," the blonde huffed. "We need to head down to the gym and talk to Keiji."

"Great," Kouji muttered. "My favorite person."

"I know what you mean," Tamotsu said with a sigh. "He doesn't like me very much."

"He doesn't like anyone," Kouji muttered.

"Excuse me?"

Both boys turned around, their eyes widening. "K-Keiji?"

"I don't like anyone, huh?" Keiji asked calmly. "Well, as your coach, I'd hope you get your attitudes adjusted about me, because you're stuck with me."

"Uh, yeah, sorry," Tamotsu muttered.

"Sorry," Kouji grumbled.

"Yeah, you're sorry because I heard what you said," Keiji replied. "Why don't the two of you run a quick three miles. Think about how you feel about me."

Tamotsu nodded but Kouji narrowed his eyes. "What? I'm so fucking sore I can barely walk! How am I supposed to run three miles then go right into practice right after?"

Keiji shrugged uncaringly. "Deal with it."

**

* * *

**

"How was your guys' first day of practice?" Asashi's father asked as three boys climbed into the car. Asashi had to carry Kouji to the car.

"Fine," Asashi said as he climbed into the front seat.

"New guy?" the brunette's father murmured.

"Yep," Asashi replied, buckling his seatbelt.

His father smirked.

**

* * *

**

"Kouji! Kouji, please wake up!"

"Go _away, _Patamon," Kouji groaned, pushing the Digimon off of his shoulder. "I'm fucking tired."

"You have to get up! Keiko's in trouble!" he cried desperately.

Kouji smirked to himself. "It's probably just Tamotsu. I did teach him how to make her scream. She's probably just having her first-"

"It's Barbamon!"

"What?"

"Barbamon! He's attacking her! I can feel it! You have to do something."

"Shit," Kouji snarled, pulling the covers aside and jumping out of bed. "Do you know where she is?"

Patamon nodded. "Follow me!"

**

* * *

**

"_Do you want to come swimming with me, Keiko?" the blonde asked, smiling._

"_Um, okay…"_

"_Death Lure…"_

_Keiko tilted her head to the side. "What did you just say?"_

"_Nothing!" the blonde said. "Now, come on! Let's go swim!"_

"_Okay…"_

Keiko's eyes slowly opened, and the brunette sat up in bed. She looked stood up and walked over to the door to her room, walking out and heading towards the front door.

It was chilly outside, but the brunette wasn't lucid enough to care. Her eyes were dull, and her steps were clumsy. She headed to the pool gates, which was far away from the house that nobody would hear her go in.

She stared at her reflection in the pool, before walking down the steps and into the water.

**

* * *

**

"Keiko!" Kouji yelled, transforming back into his regular human form and jumping into the water.

The brunette was just floating in the water, her eyes dull. Kouji grabbed her and dragged her out of the water. She immediately began coughing, to the raven's relief.

Even though he was as sore as hell, Kouji pulled her to the side of the pool and pushed her onto the granite flooring around the pool.

The brunette threw up a good amount of water, before she laid down on the floor, shaking. "Fuck, Keiko," Kouji muttered, pulling himself out of the pool and kneeling down next to her, putting a hand on her back. "What happened?"

The brunette shook her head. "I-I don't know… I don't…"

"It was Barbamon's Death Lure," Patamon said softly from the side. "One of his attacks. He goes into your subconscious and lures you to your death."

Keiko groaned and ran shaking hands through her hair. "Sh-shit."

"You're probably freezing," Kouji muttered. He pulled off his sweatshirt and draped it over her shoulders. "Come on. I'm going to carry you inside."

Keiko's face went red. "I'm perfectly c-capable of walking into the house m-myself."

"You're shaking like a leaf," Kouji replied. He wrapped his arms under her legs and put his other arm around her upper body. "Don't be a bitch."

"I'm not!" Keiko said. "And I'm heavy! You really don't have to carry me! I'm perfectly capable of-"

"Shut up," Kouji said. "I'm tired. Just stop struggling and let me carry you back to bed."

Keiko blinked and tried to hide her humiliation. "F-Fine. Carry me."

**

* * *

**

The following questions were asked to Keiko by Celestial Writer! :D

1. How's it going with Tamotsu?

K: *Smiles and blushes* Ah, things are actually going really well. I definitely care about him, and he definitely cares about me… so… *Smiles again* It's all going well.

2. Are you worried over what's going to happen toyou when you get your beast spirit?

K: Yeah, I am.. I just hope I don't transform and hurt my friends again. I hope that I can overcome it like Kouji did. I think I'm strong enough to…

3. How do you feel about how Kouji is acting?

K: I feel… sad. I wish things were better for him. I mean, this is really going to hurt him in the long run. Kouji's a really close friend, and to see him descending like this is really painful for me. I hope he's okay…

4. If you could, would you dare the guys to dress up as girls around the school for a day?

K: Ahaha! I would! I doubt they would do it, except for Takuya, because he's a creep. Aha, I loved making them over like that. I hope I can do it again!

5. Think you could use your spirit of love to find some for the guys?

K: I want to, sometimes. Maybe I'd make them all fall in love with Michiko. I really want Kouji to fall in love, though. Because maybe if he was in love with somebody, he wouldn't be so mean and cold. I don't know… I wish I could though.


	41. Throw it Away, Forget Yesterday

HELLO! Okay, so guess what my good friend Sydneybell24 did for me? **She wrote me a oneshot**! It has to do with this very story, so go check it out on her profile! It's called Friends. And REVIEW it! It's so good, I can't even believe it! So, read it and _**REVIEW **_it!

**Review replies to chapter 40:**

**Caliboy: **You've been the first to review before! Hehe, Keiko's a beast when it comes to that kind of thing. xD Lacrosse is fucking painful to pick up, too. Especially when you weren't THAT physically active. I used to run track and cross country, then I had to stop because of a knee injury and I picked up tennis a year later. I hadn't realized how just taking a year off from huge physical activity like that could affect me. And I'm not overweight, either. AAAAANYWAYS… Thank you for the review, and check out Sydney's story! :D

**D4RKWR173R5: **Hehe, thank you! We'll see some more of the bargain between Kouji and Tamotsu in the next chapter. xD Poor Kouichi, I hope he can get Kouji to hear him out! Thank you for the review, and be sure to look at Sydney's story**!**

**Celestial Writer: **I bet she is proud. xD (Keiko: I sure as hell am.) Do you think Michiko would accept him if she found out it was him? We'll have to see! Oh, there will be revenge! Thank you for the review, and make sure to read Sydney's story!

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **Oh, there'll be even MORE TamoKei coming! Eh, no pun intended. There'll be some mo Digimon stuff sonny bun. Just you wait and see! Shanks for reading, pudding pop! I hope you like the next chapter!

**Empyrea: **Uh-oh, will darkness and light break apart for good? Kouji's a hero! (Tamotsu: No he's not.) And thank goodness for Patamon! Thank you so much for reviewing this, and don't forget to read Sydney's story!

**Jennison Silvereye: **Thanks! :D Kouji's like, a superhero! Hehe! I kind of get mixed reviews over Tamotsu. xD Poor guy! And yes, he does. In one of the other chapters, he sees that they transform. I think it was chapter 13. Anyways, thanks a bunch for the review, and be sure to check out Sydney's story!

**

* * *

**

"What the hell happened to you, Tomoki?" Takuya demanded, dragging the boy out of the rain and into his apartment. "Tomoki!"

"I got into a fight," the boy muttered.

Takuya's eyes widened and he brought the boy with him into the bathroom, pushing him onto the toilet seat. "Jesus, Tomoki."

Takuya pulled the first aid kit out from under the sink and began pulling out antiseptics and bandages. "I'm gonna need some ice," the older brunette murmured to himself.

"It's fine," Tomoki replied. "I'm alright."

"No you're not!" Takuya snapped, stalking out of the room and heading towards the freezer. He pulled out a few cubes of ice, then he put them in a sandwich bag, wrapping them with a paper towel.

Takuya came back into the bathroom and threw the makeshift icepack roughly at the boy. "On your eye. _Now._"

Tomoki rolled his eyes, but obeyed. He knew how Takuya could be when he got into these moods.

Takuya put some rubbing alcohol on a cotton ball and he swiped it across Tomoki's lip, which was spotted in blood. The younger cringed and tried to pull away, but Takuya pulled his head back and kept wiping his lip up. "Deal with it. It's your own fault that you got into a fight."

Tomoki pushed Takuya away. "Get away from me!" he snapped, suddenly. "You're just making things worse! You're angry with me!"

"Damn right I'm angry!" Takuya yelled back. "You got into a _fight, _Tomoki! You're fucking twelve years old, a _kid _and-"

"That's what you _would _see," Tomoki said softly. He stood up. "I knew that it would be stupid of me coming here." A dry laugh. He walked out of the room. "And I thought you would actually help."

"Tomoki, wait!" Takuya called, walking out of the room to find Tomoki opening the front door.

"But it's stupid of me to even think that you'd want to associate yourself with a _kid _like me," he muttered, walking out and slamming the door behind him.

Takuya sighed.

He didn't go after him.

"So I haven't seen you and Kouji hanging out lately," Izumi muttered.

Kouichi glared. "Do we have to talk about this?"

Izumi shook her head. "No, we don't _have _to. But I'd like to. You've been acting strange lately. And I don't think I'm the only one who's noticed."

Kouichi sighed. "Who else has noticed?"

"Kouji, Keiko, Patamon," Izumi listed off. "They both think you've been bizarre. Patamon said that you've been kind of _mean _lately. And it made me worried, because the Kouichi I know doesn't have a mean bone in his body."

Kouichi didn't reply.

"Do you want to come over tonight, Kouichi? I was going to lay low and watch a movie or something. You could hang out with me, and we could talk about it…"

Kouichi sighed softly, nodding. "A-Alright."

**

* * *

**

"And then he just ran off," Takuya muttered, finishing telling the story to Kouji as the boys stood on the sidelines of the soccer field in gym class. "I feel kind of bad. I didn't mean to get so angry. It's just that he got into a _fight, _and he's too young for that kind of thing…"

Kouji nodded. "Do you know what the fight was about?"

Takuya shook his head. "No, I don't."

"Well you kind of just pounced on him," the raven said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "You didn't even give him a chance to explain himself. He probably thinks that you don't care about him."

"But that's not it…" Takuya said softly, sighing heavily. "That's not it at all. I just want the best for him. I want him to be safe."

"I know." Kouji kept staring at the game going on in front of him. "Just don't forget that he's not a child anymore. He's the same age that Junpei was in the Digital World, and he's turning thirteen in another couple of months."

"I just wish I could have a sign… Something that could tell me that I was doing the right thing by telling Tomoki that it was wrong…"

Just as the words left Takuya's lips, the soccer ball flew across the field and smashed into Kouji's face, causing the raven to yelp and fall backwards into the grass. Takuya tried to hold back laughs as the teen sat up and groaned, rubbing his face.

"Y-You okay?" the brunette asked, his lip twitching.

"Sorry, Kouji!" Tamotsu called over, waving his arms. "I didn't mean for that to happen! Honestly!"

Kouji sneered at the boy and stood up, embarrassment evident on his face. "How was that for a fucking sign?" he muttered.

Takuya cackled. "Great!"

"Well, I was gonna say we should pick Tomoki up from school or something," Kouji said. "And you could apologize there."

"Good idea!" Takuya exclaimed. "God, you're smart!"

"Yeah, yeah…" Kouji mumbled. He stared at the soccer game again. "Did you notice that the girls' uniform doesn't include those burumas anymore?"

Takuya tilted his head to the side and watched as Izumi jogged across the field, wearing red shorts rather that the red speedo-like bottoms that were originally included in the physical education uniforms. "Yeah, you're right… I never really noticed that until now. Hey, Izumi!" Takuya yelled, waving his arms to get the girl's attention.

The teen turned her head, her long blonde ponytail swishing behind her. "Yeah, Takuya?"

"What happened to the burumas?" he asked.

Izumi raised her eyebrows. "They've been gone for a month, Takuya! They took them away, because apparently the school board's been complaining about-" Izumi was interrupted, as she was hit in the face with a soccer ball and sent to the ground. "Damn it!"

"Sorry Izumi!" Tamotsu yelled. "I didn't mean to-"

Izumi chucked the ball right back into his face roughly. "Try again, buddy!"

Takuya smiled. "She still amazes me," he said, shaking his head.

**

* * *

**

"Where is he?" Takuya asked impatiently, staring around the front of the middle school. "He should've been out here ten minutes ago."

Kouji shrugged. "Maybe he had to stay after school for something. I doubt that he senses our presence or some mumbo jumbo and isn't coming out because of us. Paranoid."

"Not paranoid," Takuya muttered. "I just… Oh, there he is! Tomoki! Tomoki, over here!"

Said brunette looked to his right, where the boys were currently standing. He made a face and ignored them, heading down the street.

Takuya's jaw dropped. "Tomoki! Wait up!" He and Kouji ran down the street, hoping that they would catch the boy, but when they turned the corner, he was gone.

"He's one speedy son of a bitch," Kouji muttered, huffing. "Now what do we do?"

Takuya sighed. "Head home, I guess…"

**

* * *

**

As soon as Tomoki got home, he went straight to his computer, logging into his email. He smiled when he saw that he had a message from Momoe, and he opened it up immediately.

She left him something sweet, something that made him smile, but he knew exactly what he had to do. Taking a deep breath, he began typing a message out to her.

_Something happened the other day. Things have been pretty hard for me, Momoe… Listen, I need to tell you something. Can we meet somewhere? _

Tomoki blinked twice, clicking the send button.

**

* * *

**

Michiko groaned and flopped onto her bed, sweating and tired from a long day at softball practice. Her arms were sore and throbbing, but she sat up and dragged herself to her laptop, which was sitting on her bed.

She found that she had an email from Takashi. Smiling to herself, she opened it and read it. Her eyebrows furrowed and she typed a message back:

_I need to tell you something too. Meet me at Shibuya station in an hour._

**

* * *

**

"Patamon told me that mine and Kouji's connection was off," Kouichi muttered. "He said that each of us warriors must have a strong connection, and among the strongest is the darkness and the light. He said that without light, the darkness will fall… I don't know what he means."

"Do you think it has to do with Duskmon, and what happened to you in the Digital World?" Izumi asked curiously.

"I don't know…" Kouichi said softly. "I just know that he's been worried about not only my connection with light, but the connection between fire and light, and fire and ice, as well."

"Kouji and Takuya?" Izumi asked, raising her eyebrows. "That's strange. I never would have thought that their connection is bad. Well… now that I think about it, the two of them haven't been hanging out so much. But Kouji and Takuya are supposed to hang out today. And Takuya and Tomoki _did _have a little bit of a fallout recently…"

"Yeah," Kouichi muttered, nodding to himself. "Things were so much easier a few years ago, back in the seventh grade. I didn't think being a teenager would be so hard, you know?"

"I know what you mean," Izumi said, patting the boy on the back. "It really is hard. High school is a lot harder, and people change quite a bit, you know?"

"I know…" the raven sighed. "Do you think I should talk to Kouji about it? He usually always listens to me when I have something to say."

"I think you should," Izumi said. "If he's always listening to you, I don't see why this would suddenly be an exception. Kouji loves you, more than anything, and I doubt that he would let the two of you drift apart from each other. He risked his ass just to find out who you were, remember? And you did the same, I'm sure that Kouji realizes that."

"Thanks, Izumi," Kouichi said, smiling at the blonde. "You have no idea how much you've been a help to me."

Izumi grinned. "Don't mention it!"

"Well, let's talk about something else…" Kouichi tilted his head to the side. "How've things been with you and Asashi?"

Izumi flushed, shrugging. "They've been really good, actually. The two of us have been getting along really well."

Kouichi laughed lightly. "If you two had kids, I bet they'd be really cute."

Izumi gawked and waved her arms above her head in embarrassment. "Don't say things like that! I'm only fourteen for God's sake!"

"Going on fifteen…"

"Kouichi!"

**

* * *

**

Tomoki trudged back from the station, feeling a sick weight in his chest. He had met 'Momoe'. Momoe was actually Michiko, one of Keiko and Izumi's friends. They had met each other a few times.

The brunette swallowed thickly. Of course, when Michiko found out that he was only a twelve year old, she hadn't wanted to have anything to do with him. He was just a _kid _after all. What was a three year age difference anyways?

The weight in his chest got heavier with every step he took. Before he knew it, the pain was _unbearable _and the boy had to move into an alley to drop to his knees. "Shit…" he said shakily under his breath. Tears dripped down his cheeks, and he was unable to stop them. "Shit…"

He groaned as it felt like his chest was being split open and he gripped at it. The tears kept coming, and his breaths were getting deeper, and changing into grunts and groans. His arms were shaking and his eyes were twitching.

Something was happening… His back began to twitch, and his legs were flexing unconsciously. Tomoki bared his teeth and let out an inhuman cry.

**

* * *

**

Takuya opened the door and grinned when Junpei was standing at the doorstep, a pizza in his hands.

"Welcome to the prestigious home of the Minamotos," Takuya said, trying to hold back laughs. "I do believe you arrived before your 30 minute guarantee-"

"Can it," Junpei snapped, shoving the pizza into his arms. "I needed some money, so I took an available job. That'll be fifteen bucks, asshole."

"That's no way to speak to a valued customer," Takuya said, laughing as he pulled out a twenty dollar bill. "Keep the change. You obviously need it."

Junpei pocketed the money. "Whatever. Have you heard from Tomoki lately?"

Takuya shook his head. "No. Why?"

"Well, because Michiko called me and told me-"

"Michiko called you?" Takuya furrowed his brows. "Why did she call you?"

"We _talk, _okay?" Junpei huffed. "Now shut up and listen. Remember how we set up an eHarmony profile for Tomoki?"

Takuya nodded. "Yeah. And that Momoe girl was interested in him."

"Momoe was Michiko," Junpei said. "Because apparently Izumi and Keiko set up a profile for her, too. Ironic right?"

"Yeah…" Takuya tilted his head. "How did they figure it out?"

"Well, Michiko and Tomoki decided to meet, and when Michiko found out that it was Tomoki, she told him that she didn't want to be with somebody that young."

"Wow, really? Poor Tomoki."

Junpei nodded. "I know. I've been trying to call the little guy, but he won't answer his phone."

"Maybe he spiraled into a depression," Takuya said. "I feel bad. He really liked her."

"I know," Junpei sighed. "Well, I'd better get going. Deliveries don't make themselves, you know."

Takuya chuckled and waved to the older brunette. "See you around, Junpei."

The brunette waved back, and he headed back to the car he was using.

Just as the car drove off, Kouji came in, tilting his head to the side. "Did you give him a tip?"

Takuya nodded, grinning. "It was Junpei. He has a new job."

"A pizza delivery guy?" Kouji muttered, walking over to the table and sitting down. "Why didn't he tell us that?"

Takuya shrugged. "Because he's a _pizza delivery guy._"

"What's wrong with that?" Kouji asked, taking a slice from the pie on the table. "I'll bet you they make some good money."

Takuya nodded, taking a bit from his piece. "Hmm… So do you still like Izumi?"

Kouji shrugged. "Yeah."

Takuya laughed softly. "I thought you got over that when we were twelve. I can't believe you still like her."

"I can't believe _you _still like her," Kouji replied dryly. "I'm not the only one here, you know. You like her too."

"I'm not going to compete with you for her," Takuya said off-handedly. "I don't want to ruin our friendship for something like that. And besides that, she has Asashi."

"Well, may the best man win if the two of them break up," Kouji said. "And, when I win, you can have the constellation prize…"

"Constellation prize?" Takuya asked, raising an eyebrow. "Your sweet ass?"

Kouji snorted. "No, Keiko."

Takuya blanched. "That's mean. Anyways, I'm not attracted to Keiko. And if I win, you wouldn't take her either."

Kouji smirked. "And you know this…?"

"Because if you liked her, you would have fought harder for her with Tamotsu. Hell, you didn't fight at all," he said.

"Well, that's because I liked _Izumi_," Kouji replied.

"Well, Keiko's not bad," Takuya said thoughtfully. "She's cute."

"Not as cute as Izumi," Kouji argued.

"Well, Izumi's hot, Keiko's cute," Takuya said, nodding to himself. "Yeah…"

"I guess." Kouji tossed his crust onto his plate and took another piece out of the box. "I wouldn't go hooking up with her or anything, though."

"Who, Keiko?" Takuya asked, and Kouji nodded. "Why not?"

"Because then she'd get all clingy," Kouji mumbled. "And she'd think that it was actually _something._"

"And you would just hook with Izumi _because…_" Takuya waved his hand for Kouji to keep going.

"Because Izumi's more… mature…" Kouji said. "I think she's more adult. She'd probably understand it more."

"I don't know, man," Takuya said. "Keiko's pretty damn mature. More than Izumi, I think."

Kouji shrugged. "But I'd still rather hook up with Izumi. Seems easier."

"You just want Izumi for a hookup?" Takuya asked, tilting his head to the side.

"Something more, I guess. More like a year-long engagement kind of thing," Kouji said.

"I would kind of want even more than that with her," Takuya said, walking to the refrigerator. "You think your dad would notice if I took a couple of his beers?"

"Nah," Kouji said. "What, you picture yourself getting married with her or something?"

Takuya shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. She's the only girl I could imagine being with for that long."

"Hn." Kouji nodded when Takuya tossed him a can of beer. "I don't know. I can't picture myself getting married. Living with somebody, maybe… But marriage? I don't know about that. Thinking about it makes me want to barf."

"But what if it's the right person?" Takuya replied, sitting down and taking another piece of pizza from the box. "It wouldn't be so bad, then, I think."

Kouji narrowed his eyes. "Don't go all sentimental on me."

Takuya grinned. "I'm not. Just being honest."

"Yeah, you're damn good at being honest." Kouji sighed, picking up the remote to the television in the kitchen. "Let's see what's on TV."

The raven hit the power button and a newscast popped up on the TV. _"Breaking news! Some strange creature has been attacking the innocent civilians of Shibuya." _It zoomed in to show a creature that looked like a boy, but at the same time a monster.

"That looks like Tomoki," Kouji said, his eyes widening. "He got his beast spirit!"

"Come on, let's go!" Takuya exclaimed, jumping out of his seat.

"Wait!" Kouji said, staring intently at the television. Another creature swooped down and crashed into him. "That's Izumi… And Kouichi? Izumi in beast spirit form too! Come on, they're right by Shibuya Station!"

**

* * *

**

"Plasma Pods!"

Tomoki grunted as he skidded across the street. He got to his feet quickly and pulled twin axes off of his back. "Avalanche axes!"

"Hurricane Gale!" Izumi thrust her fingers forwards, sending the axes back at him and into the wall behind in. The sheer force of the wind caused Tomoki to fly back into the wall.

"Tomoki, you need to stop," Izumi said softly, walking over to her fallen friend. "It's me, Izumi. Can't you see? Come on, Tomoki. I don't want to hurt you…"

"Frozen Arrowheads!" Tomoki yelled, surrounding Izumi ropes coming from his back, constricting her from moving.

"Shadow Meteor!" Kouichi yelled, sending a ball of darkness into Tomoki's side and sending him crashing into the ground.

"Are you two okay?" Takuya, who was merged with BurningGreymon, yelled, running over to the two of them. Kouji was right on his tail, merged with Lobomon.

"We're fine," Izumi assured him. "But Tomoki… He won't go down."

"You look different, Kouichi," Kouji muttered. "Your evolution looks kind of weird."

Kouichi shrugged. "I hadn't noticed."

"Speaking of evolutions, how the hell did you get your beast spirit _and _learn to control it?" Takuya demanded.

Izumi smiled. "I'm just that good. When Kouichi was getting attacked really badly, I pushed the beast spirit out on my own, and took control of it."

"Wow…" Takuya said in admiration. "Good for you!"

Izumi smiled. "Thanks, Takuya!"

"Pay attention," Kouji snapped. "Tomoki's still up. We need to take him down, now."

"Right," Takuya said, moving into a fighting stance.

The youngest stood up and charged at them, his axes in both of his hands.

"All together!" Izumi yelled. "If we combine all of our attacks, we can win!"

"Hurricane Gale!"

"Wildfire Tsunami!"

"Howling Laser!"

"Shadow Meteor!"

**

* * *

**

"Tomoki, wake up… Tomoki…"

The brunette blearily opened his eyes, finding that he was surrounded by Kouji, Takuya, Kouichi and Izumi, who all looked worried. "Huh? What happened?"

"Your beast spirit," Kouji muttered. "That's what happened."

"Where am I?" Tomoki asked, looking around.

"We all came to my house," Izumi said, brushing his hair away from his forehead. "You were hurt pretty badly…"

"Did I hurt anybody?"

Kouichi shook his head. "According to the news, only three were injured in your rampage. It's not serious injuries. At worst, a broken wrist."

"Good," Tomoki said, his eyes slipping shut. "Good. Nobody was hurt."

Takuya gripped his hand in both of his own. "Tomoki… I'm so sorry about what happened the other day. I should have listened to you. I didn't mean for you to think I was treating you like a child, because you're anything but…"

Tomoki didn't reply. He was sleeping again.

**

* * *

**

Yeahh. Short chapter, right? Sorry, kids. D: Don't forget to read Sydney's story, 'Friends'! Well, this week's number guessing winner was Sydneybell24! Here are her questions to Keiko!:

1. You've been through a lot of tragedy in your life. Who's death affected you the most? Your parents' or your sister's?

K: M-My sister's death, probably… She was… Um, yeah, her death affected me the most.

2. So there've been a lot of questions about your connection with Kouji. Do you, or did you, have feelings for him?

K: I really liked Kouji there, for a while. But once I realized that I was just being used by him, the feelings ceased. But it's not like I never liked him, because believe me, I _definitely _did.

3. We've all seen how Tamotsu makes you so flustered, and how you're generally shy and self-conscious. Why are you more aggressive when the two of you are participating in sexual acts?

K: Ahaha… Um… I don't even know. I like being in control when it comes to things like that. It's kind of embarrassing to talk about, but I like to be able to control Tamotsu's reactions to whatever I do.

4. You sure you've never done those kinds of things, the things I referred to in number 3?

K: *Blushes* I'm sure. I guess I just knew what to do, you know? Ehehe, ever since the two of us have gotten together, I've been reading the sex section Cosmopolitan. Ahaha…

5. As I said earlier, you're very self-conscious. Why do you think that is?

K: Ah, I've always been like that, even as a kid. I think about every single thing I do, and what it looks like, and what it insinuates… I just don't want to do the wrong thing, you know?


	42. Pour Some Sugar on Me

I know I'm a couple of days late, and I'm really sorry! I hope this chapter is worth your while!

**Review replies to chapter 41 (AND OTHERS! :D)**

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **Fufufu, that was the point, BITCH. I'm super happy that you liked this chapter and I think you'll come to adore this one too. Thanks for the review! :D

**Caliboy: **Well, I wouldn't say they were bitching about her, but… And Takuya's **had **his beast spirit. He got it in chapter 33. Oh joy, an ass cookie! At least Tamotsu has a nice ass. :D Thanks for the review.

**(All reviews from)D4RKWR173R5: **Haha, thanks! I really appreciate the other review too! I hope you like this next chapter! :D

**SwAlLoWiNg DaNtE: **Thanks a lot! :D And no, it probably won't be a yaoi story. Sorry. D: Thanks for the review!

**Empyrea: **Ahaha, you're so right! Eeeh. No cookies? Dx Thanks so much for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter! :D

**Jennison Silverye:** I know. Guys SUCK. xD Takuya's a sweetheart. (: Ooh, a Koujeiko fan. I'm sure you'll like this chapter then. :D Thank you so much for the review and I hope you like the next chapter!

**(All reviews from)Thankful Memories: **WOW! Thank you for reviewing all of those chapters! :D I'm so glad you like my story so far, and I think I know a part that you'll like in this next chapter, here. ;D Thank you so much!

**

* * *

**

"Can I borrow a yukata**(1)**?"

Keiko blinked twice, staring at Izumi, who looked out of breath on her doorstep. "Um, sure?"

Izumi sighed and grinned at the brunette. "Thank you so much! I have one for the fireworks festival, but I need another one for the onsen**(2)**. Oh God, I'm so excited! This is going to be so fun!"

"The hotel provides yukata," Keiko said. "But if you want to borrow one of my other ones-"

"Oh, they do, don't they?" Izumi rubbed her chin thoughtfully. "Hmm."

Keiko tilted her head to the side. "You brought your duffel, though." She pointed to the bag slung over Izumi's shoulder. "Apparently you plan on getting ready here…"

Izumi grinned. "If you don't mind."

Keiko shook her head and smiled. "It's okay. C'mon in."

**

* * *

**

"You look sexy in your yukata," Tamotsu said, grinning at the raven in front of him.

"Fuck _you,_" Kouji grumbled. "You're such a flamer."

"Which is why I have a girlfriend and why you're teaching me how to give her crazy orgasms," Tamotsu replied shamelessly. "And I was just saying that to boost your shit self-esteem. Just so you know."

Kouji rolled his eyes.

"Chill, ladies," Junpei said, looking himself over in the mirror. "Today is supposed to be fun. Remember?"

"Fun, fun," Kouji muttered. "A fireworks display and then spending the weekend at an onsen hotel with nine other teenagers. It sounds smashing."

"Lighten up," Takuya exclaimed. "You don't have to be a little bitch about everything."

"Not a bitch," the raven muttered, shrugging his shoulders as he stared at his reflection.

Kouichi came out next, wearing a dark green yukata. He stared at himself in the mirror, blinking absently before moving to sit on Asashi's bed.

"So the girls are coming here to pick us up?" Junpei asked.

"Yeah, that's the plan," Takuya said, stretching and yawning. "This is gonna be awesome! I haven't been to a nice onsen in _ages!_ And knowing Keiko, she probably rented some of the nicest rooms for us!"

Tamotsu nodded, grinning from ear to ear. "I have a good feeling about tonight.

**

* * *

**

"No!" Izumi cried when she dropped her cotton candy on the ground. She huffed and stomped her foot, glaring at the pink ball of fluff at her feet.

"I'll buy you a new one," Asashi said, winding his arm around her waist.

"Don't be gone too long!" Michiko exclaimed. "You'll miss the fireworks! And we have perfect seats!"

"Don't worry," Asashi called back, waving dismissively. "We'll be back with time to spare."

He led Izumi to the stand where cotton candy was being handed out. "You really don't have to pay," Izumi said as several children in yukatas ran by laughing. "I can pay for myself. It's not your fault I dropped it."

Asashi shook his head, pressing a kiss to her temple with gentleness that made Izumi's face go red. "I want to."

Izumi sighed softly and rested her head on his shoulder as they walked towards the vendor. "Thank you, Asashi."

The brunette nodded and smiled at her, before ordering the treat for the blonde.

Izumi stared at her boyfriend with a smile on her face. He was so _perfect. _So beautiful, and kind, and funny. The way he moved, and the way he spoke and those little half-smiles that appeared on his face… They way his hand was so warm, and so dry, and the way she fit so perfectly against his chest.

Izumi tilted her head and stared at his face as he talked to the vendor. The sun was just beginning to set, and his eyes were lit up. The gray pools reflected the burning magenta of the sky, and the blonde sighed softly. _So beautiful._

Asashi turned around, a big pink puff on a stick in his hand. He furrowed his brows when he noticed that the girl was staring at him. "Izumi?"

"Ah, sorry," Izumi muttered. "I was just zoning out."

"'S alright," Asashi replied, wrapping his arm around her as he handed her the cotton candy. The two began heading back to the hill where their friends were. "What were you thinking about?"

Izumi stared at the sidewalk as they walked past the lit up stands. "Um…"

Asashi tilted his head to the side before he smirked devilishly. "Was it _dirty?_"

Izumi laughed and pushed him playfully. "No!" She smiled up at him. "I was just thinking about _you. _And how _perfect _you are."

"I'm far from it," Asashi murmured before pecking her lightly on the lips. "But thank you."

There was a loud boom, and an 'ooh' from the crowd. "They're starting…" Izumi said, although she wasn't very anxious to get back to where the others were.

"Yeah…"

The two of them paused, staring at the sky as fireworks lit it up. As a red one lit it up, Izumi wrapped her arms tightly around the brunette, burying her face in his yukata. "Asashi…"

She felt one of his strong arms wind around her back. She closed her eyes and took in a deep breath. He smelled like chocolate and something else she couldn't quite detect. Something that was just so _Asashi._

"Asashi," she mumbled again, looking back up at him. "I love you."

The brunette smiled and bent slightly to press a kiss to her lips. He pulled away only slightly, their lips still connected. "Love you too."

Izumi smiled and pushed her face back into his chest, feeling like a complete imbecile when tears of complete and utter _happiness _began to flood her eyes. She laughed softly and his arms wound even more tightly around her.

The fireworks were going off all over the place, but the only thing the two of them were thinking about was each other.

**

* * *

**

"Yeah, you'll be back in time for the fireworks," Takuya huffed as the couple came back and took their seats. "Where the hell were you two? The lines weren't that busy!"

"They _were _busy," Asashi replied dryly, sitting down with Izumi at his side. "How do you know they weren't? Were you there?"

Takuya sighed and shook his head. "You guys just missed a lot of the show, that's all," he muttered.

"Sorry," Izumi said as she cuddled up next to Asashi. "But we're here now…"

Takuya nodded. "Yeah…"

As the air cooled, some of the workers began passing out blankets. They only had enough so that people would have to sit in twos. Keiko and Tamotsu, and Izumi and Asashi naturally shared with each other. Kouji decided to invite Michiko to lean against him for the fireworks show; Tamotsu glared at the boy, hoping that he wasn't planning to use one of his best friends as one of his hookups. Takuya ended up sharing with Tomoki, who was still acting awkwardly around him, and Kouichi and Junpei shared; everybody was slightly confused when they realized that a strong bond was formed between the two. Kouji especially looked frazzled.

When it was over, the ten of them all walked along with the crowd to the subway station and they took a train back to Keiko's house, arriving back there by eight o'clock.

All of their weekend bags were laying in the driveway, right next to a jet that looked extremely expensive.

The teens were all thrilled to be riding in the Takishita's private jet, even though it would only be a three hour long flight to Kyoto. They were shocked when they found out that Naoki wasn't going to come along, and neither were her other brothers. The older man had apparently deemed them all mature enough to go by themselves and behave. He had been in charge of picking the rooms, though.

When they finally arrived, they were all taken by the beauty of the hotel in front of them. It was extremely traditional on the interior, with it's tatami matted rooms, the sleeping mats and the sliding doors. The onsen was even nicer. It was traditional, just like the hotel, with a gigantic outdoor bath, divided by a natural slab of rock, which went up at least thirty feet.

After finally getting their rooms, they all went to sleep, exhausted from the long day, and they hoped they would be able to relax all night tomorrow.

**

* * *

**

"Keiko! You haven't hit the onsen once, have you?" Izumi asked, slamming her chopsticks down on the little table in their room.

Takuya's eye twitched, and Kouji raised an eyebrow as the brunette across from Izumi blinked twice. "Um, no. I haven't gone to the onsen yet." She picked up a piece of sushi and brought it to her mouth. "But I'll go tonight."

Izumi grabbed Keiko's hand and shook her dramatically, causing her fish to go rolling across the floor. "You'd better! Or I'll _kill _you!"

The brunette groaned and crawled across the floor to retrieve her food. "Damn it, Izumi… And I'm going tonight, in case you didn't hear me say it just twenty seconds ago."

Kouji looked over to Izumi. "Are you two going to the co-ed onsen, or are you sticking to the girls only one?"

Izumi shrugged, grinning. "I might do the co-ed one…"

"I'm doing the girls one," Keiko muttered.

"Wasn't talking to you," Kouji huffed.

"_Wasn't talking to you,_" Keiko sneered, copying what Kouji said in an obnoxious voice. Kouji smiled a little bit, as did the brunette.

"I don't know which one I'm going to," Takuya said, looking over towards Izumi. "It'd be pretty cool if we all went to the co-ed one and hung out."

Izumi looked over to Keiko and shook her head. "I think I'll stick with Keiko, actually. Don't want to leave my darling dearest baby boo foxy-boxy Keiko alone."

Keiko raised her eyebrows. "What?"

Takuya laughed softly and Kouji smirked. Keiko noticed that the both seemed slightly disappointed. She sighed.

**

* * *

**

"Well it's about time, Keiko? Where were you?" Izumi demanded with a smile as the brunette slipped into the onsen with her and Michiko.

"I was talking to Saburo," she said softly, stretching and sinking into the hot water. "He just wanted to know how everything was over here."

"Hmm." Michiko sighed and closed her eyes. "Thank you for taking us all here, Keiko. It's been so fun."

"It's no big deal," Keiko said, staring at the water. "Just thought it would be kind of cool."

There was silence for a moment, before Izumi spoke: "Isn't it awkward with Tomoki, Michiko?"

Michiko blinked and nodded. "Yeah. I mean… I really liked Takashi. And since Takashi is Tomoki… I'm just so confused."

"No fifteen year old would want to date a twelve year old," Izumi said.

Keiko nodded. "I mean, I love Tomoki and all, but he's a kid. I wouldn't want to date somebody so young, you know?"

Michiko sighed softly. "Of course the only person I can land is a fucking _kid. _Ugh, I just feel so stupid. I mean… I just… I really thought he was somebody special, you know?" She sniffled miserably. "He probably hasn't even hit puberty yet."

"Michiko… it's okay…" Izumi said softly, putting a hand on her back. "You didn't know that it was Tomoki…"

Michiko wordlessly stood up and wrapped her other towel around herself, leaving the onsen.

"Wait, Michiko!" Keiko exclaimed. "M-Maybe you should get something to eat. That always makes me feel better."

"Not hungry," the auburn haired girl muttered before shutting the screen door behind her.

Keiko stared sadly at the door before turning back around. "Poor Michiko…"

"Do you think we should try to get her?" Izumi asked softly.

Keiko shook her head. "No… When she gets like this, it's best to leave her alone."

"Okay…"

There was silence for a while as the girls tried to get resituated. "Umm. How are things with Tamotsu?" Izumi asked, smirking.

Keiko's cheeks immediately went pink and she lowered her eyes to the water. "They're… good."

"You know, we never talk about your sex life. You're too damned reserved," Izumi announced. "Have you two banged yet?"

Keiko gawked. "_No!_"

Izumi tilted her head. "Have you guys done _anything?_"

"Of course we have!" Keiko exclaimed.

Izumi narrowed her eyes. "And you didn't tell me?"

"Well, Jesus, Izumi! Was I supposed to?" she asked. "It's not like you tell me whenever you and Asashi do stuff."

"Fine, I'll tell you, then." She cleared her throat. "We've done everything besides sex."

Keiko blinked. "And you guys have only been going out a month more than us? Wow…"

"What, you guys haven't done much?" Izumi asked, genuinely curious.

"Um, no, we've done some things. We make out like animals and I've given him a hand job, but-"

"Really?" Izumi asked. "And he's never returned the favor?"

"I didn't really want him to at the time," Keiko said softly, rubbing her arm awkwardly. "I thought it would, um… hurt."

Keiko was surprised that Izumi wasn't making fun of her. "It's not really that bad," she girl said, strangely comforting. "It's kinda weird, but it's not that bad."

Keiko shrugged. "I don't really know. I just get really nervous when I think about Tamotsu actually seeing my body, I guess. I-I don't know."

"Well if it means anything, I think you're beautiful," Izumi said, smiling. "And Tamotsu probably wouldn't have a problem at all with your appearance. Have you seen the way he looks at you?"

Keiko smiled a little bit. "I didn't really notice… Thank you, Izumi… Hey, you seem kind of different."

Izumi smiled even wider, but she didn't say anything.

"Asashi told you he loves you, didn't he?" Keiko asked, staring calmly at the girl.

Izumi's jaw dropped and her eyes widened. "HAH?!?"

"I kind of guessed that when you guys came back from the cotton candy stand." The brunette went underwater for a moment. She came back up, rubbing her eyes. "I'm your best friend, Izumi. I know you really well."

Izumi huffed and crossed her arms. "I wanted to be the one that told you…"

Keiko smiled. "Sorry."

The blonde smiled too. "It's fine. I'm just surprised that you knew about it."

Keiko shrugged. "I'm smart."

Izumi rolled her eyes. "Of course."

Keiko sighed and smiled again. "What's it feel like? Being in love with somebody?"

Izumi stared at the water with a serene smile. "It's like… It's this feeling you get in your chest that makes your heart feel like it's… like it's never big enough. It makes you feel like nothing else in the world matters other than the one you're looking at." She tilted her head. "It makes you want to laugh and dance and sing and do all sorts of crazy things. It's… different."

Keiko blinked and stared for a moment. She felt… _jealous_. "It must be nice."

Izumi nodded. "It is."

Keiko was silent then, and she took in all that she heard. Would she ever fall in love? Of course, she adored Tamotsu, but she knew she wasn't in love with theeling like that t. It wasn't improbable. But a feeling like that just seemed so out of her league. Maybe… it would never happen.

"I'm gonna go ahead inside now," Izumi said, stepping out and wrapping her other towel around her curvaceous body. "Don't stay in for too long. You know what can happen if you do."

Keiko nodded. "I know. I'll see you soon."

The screen door opened and closed, and suddenly Keiko was alone.

_Love. _Izumi was in love. Keiko sighed and splashed water on her face. Why was she acting so jealous over this? Izumi deserved it, right?

Keiko leaned back against the wall and shut her eyes, letting her head fall back. Of course. Izumi deserved it.

"_They're so pretty," Keiko said softly, staring at the flowers with a small smile on her face. "And there're so many of them. It's like…" She stared down at the yellow flowers beneath her._

"_Like what?" the blonde at her side asked curiously, tilting her head to the side._

"_It's like… u-um… Heaven."_

_The blue-eyed girl smiled and nodded in agreement. "Yeah. It does look like heaven."_

_Keiko nodded and stared ahead as the wind blew through her hair. "I like it here…"_

"_This can be our secret place from now on," the blonde declared, smiling. "We can come here and play together, since you like flowers so much."_

_Keiko smiled a bit shyly. "Really?"_

_The blonde grinned and held out her pinky. "Of course. I promise."_

Keiko opened her eyes, groaning when she felt lightheaded and slightly sick. She had stayed in for way too long.

The brunette climbed out and grabbed her other towel, drying off quickly before pulling her blue yukata with a pink sash on. She felt like she was going to fall over.

**

* * *

**

Kouji headed down the halls in his stone gray yukata, slightly grumpy. Izumi had basically forced him to go check on Keiko, to make sure she was out of there by now. He rolled his eyes. She could take care of herself, for God's sake.

Keiko stumbled out of the baths, her yukata pulled around her slender frame. Kouji walked over to her, narrowing his eyes as he noticed how badly she was shaking. He managed to get to her right before she fell to the ground, grabbing her under her arms with his own. "Don't you know any better? You're not supposed to stay in for that long," he grunted as he held her weight against his body.

"I wasn't thinking," she mumbled. "I fell asleep."

"Come on. I'll fan you down," Kouji said, half-dragging, half-carrying the girl with him to his and Junpei's room. He lowered the girl onto his sleeping mat, pulling the blanket over her.

His disappeared into the bathroom for a moment and when he came back out, he had a wet washcloth to put on her forehead. He rolled his eyes and walked over to the table in the middle of the floor, and grabbed the fan they provided them with. He sat next to Keiko, fanning her face slowly, making sure she didn't overheat.

"You don't have to do this…" the brunette said, her cheeks flushing even more than they already were from the heat.

"Don't blush," Kouji huffed. "You'll overheat even more."

Keiko was silent. "Really, though… You don't need to-"

"It's fine, Keiko," he said. "I owe you, anyway."

"What?" she asked, turning her head towards him.

Kouji grumbled and repositioned the washcloth on her forehead so it didn't fall off. "If it weren't for you, Tamotsu wouldn't have taught me to play lacrosse."

"What?" Keiko raised her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"

"I'm teaching Tamotsu to give orgasms to girls, if he'll teach me to play-"

"WHAT - Ow!" Keiko gripped at her forehead.

"Jesus, Keiko," Kouji groaned. "Calm down."

Keiko was gritting her teeth and holding her forehead with one shaking hand. "I don't feel so well, Kouji," she muttered. "I feel kind of sick."

"Shit," he grumbled, literally dragging the girl off of his mat and hoisting her up and into the bathroom. She sat her down in front of the toilet where she immediately threw up. She was trembling violently and twitching.

"What's the matter with you?" Kouji asked as Keiko stayed over the porcelain bowl, even after she had thrown up. "This usually doesn't happen with-"

Keiko suddenly seized up straight and then fell backwards onto the floor, twitching.

Kouji's eyes widened and he crawled over to her, pressing his fingers to her neck and checking her pulse. He stared at her as she suddenly cried out and arched off the floor, her eyes wide and her mouth agape. "Beast spirit…"

Kouji gripped her shoulders and held her down to the floor. It was hard to hold her down, and he struggled valiantly to keep her restrained. Keiko's eyes shut tightly and she cried out, arching even more powerfully.

"Come on, Keiko…" Kouji mumbled. "Fight it."

Keiko gave one last gasp and twitch and then she was just laying there, her eyes half-lidded.

Kouji stared for a moment, surprised at how fast it had been. He took his hands off of her shoulders. "Are you awake?"

Keiko's breathing slowed down until her breaths were very slow and relaxed. "Yes."

"Can you walk?" he asked.

Keiko nodded slowly and managed to sit up. She got to her feet, although she was wobbling. Kouji nodded. "Come on. I'll walk you back to your room. You should get some rest."

The raven walked back to the screen door leading to the hallway, and Keiko followed sluggishly. He walked into the hall, stopping when he realized that Keiko wasn't behind him. He turned around to see that Keiko had one hand on the doorway and her other hand on her knee, leaned over. She was breathing quite heavily.

Kouji sighed and headed over to her, bending at the knees. "Get on my back."

Keiko stared for a moment, but she complied, too tired to argue. She clambered onto his back and held onto his shoulders as he walked down the hall with her.

**

* * *

**

"It's a good thing you were there," Izumi said softly. "She could've been hurt if you weren't."

Kouji shrugged. "You were the one who wanted me to go and check on her."

Izumi smiled. "But still… I didn't ask you to fan her down."

Kouji's cheeks flushed slightly at the praise. She was too pretty when she smiled. "Thanks, Izumi…"

The blonde smiled again. "Thank _you. _You're a really wonderful friend. I don't think you like to admit it, though."

Kouji tilted his head to the side. "Hm?"

"You've always been a good friend, you know? You act so cold and stuff, but I can see right through it." She grinned. "And I can tell what you think sometimes, too."

Kouji rolled his eyes. "Right…"

"I think I may know you even better than you know yourself, sometimes," Izumi said. "Really."

"Yeah, right," Kouji huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. "Nobody knows me better than I do."

Izumi smiled. "Of course… Well, I'm going to be getting to bed, now."

"Hn." Kouji stood up and headed towards the door. "Night."

"Goodnight," Izumi called back as Kouji shut the sliding screen door behind him.

**

* * *

**

"How sad," Michiko said softly as she finished putting her hair up into a neat bun. "The weekend went by so fast… I really don't want to leave."

"I know…" Asashi sighed, agreeing fully.

"Get over it," Tamotsu said playfully, and Michiko huffed and slapped his butt. "Oww."

"Bitch," Michiko mumbled.

Tamotsu and Asashi laughed softly, staring at the auburn haired girl. They both blinked for a moment. Wow… She was_ really _pretty. Of course, the two had known her for years, but this was the first time they were actually acknowledging her as a girl. They had never realized it, but she was actually quite curvy, not as much as Izumi, but still, quite a bit. Her light amber eyes were glowing in the light, and her wine-colored hair was shining.

She was _beautiful._

"Alright. I'm done," Michiko said, standing up and staring at the two boys. "What are you two looking at?"

Tamotsu blinked twice. "Michiko… you're a… _girl._"

Michiko's eyes narrowed. "Ex_cuse _me?"

**

* * *

**

Izumi sighed contentedly and leaned against Asashi on the plane. They were talking about the way Junpei and Kouji were suddenly all over Michiko. Apparently Asashi and Tamotsu weren't the only ones who noticed how pretty she was. Now Junpei and Kouji were heavily flirting with the girl, who was giggling between the two of them.

"She's always been that pretty," Izumi said, staring up at Asashi. "You boys were all just too stupid to realize that."

Asashi nodded. "Yeah… I guess so. She's always looked like this?"

Junpei coyly placed a hand on her thigh, causing her cheeks to go pink. Kouji glared at the slightly older boy. Tamotsu looked ready to pounce if the time called for it.

Izumi nodded. "And I think it's good that she has two older brothers."

Asashi blinked. "Wait… She only has an older sister, no other siblings."

Izumi giggled. "I meant you and Tamotsu. You're pretty protective of her, huh?"

Asashi shrugged. "She's our girl."

Izumi smiled and kissed the boy on the cheek. "That's so sweet…"

Asashi smiled, then frowned. "Hey… Is something the matter with Kouichi?"

Izumi stared at the boy, who was completely silent on the plane. She blinked. "He's been acting… strange."

"We should investigate," Asashi said. "I'll be Sherlock Holmes, and you can be… uh… what's-his-face… Wilson or whatever."

"Watson," Izumi huffed, smiling. "Get it right, bitch."

"Ooh. Fiesty."

**

* * *

**

YEAHH. I really just cut it off there. Bitches. Aaaaanyway. The winner of this week's guessing game was GirlsLikeeBoys. She decided to interview Junpei. :D

1. How have you been since you've made your transformation and lost the weight? Do you feel better as a person?

J: I've been good. It's just been all about monitoring my diet and making sure I keep working out, which has actually been pretty easy. Sometimes I feel really great, but at other times when all the girls flock me, I think, why didn't they want to talk to me when I was heavier? My personality really hasn't changed that drastically, so I'm beginning to wonder if looks really matter that much, you know?

2. Do you sometimes feel left out by your group of friends, or as if you're drifting apart from some or all of them?

J: Sometimes I feel like that, but I've gotta remember that we're all doing our own things, you know? I'm older than the rest of them, so of course I kind of have my own group of friends apart from them, and the same goes for Tomoki. I don't feel like I'm drifting from anybody, though.

3. How are things with Tomoki? You're not friends as much anymore, are you?

J: I used to be really close with him in the past. But things've changed a lot… I wouldn't say we're drifting apart, but maybe we're kind of going off on our own.

4. When it comes to girls, do you like Izumi, Michiko, or Keiko? Or are they not your types? Who would be your favorite out of the three?

J: As a friend, I'd have to say I like Izumi or Keiko the most. But since I know you're not talking about friendship, I'd have to say Michiko. She's adorable and hot. She's totally my type, and we've hit it off a few times. I've had my eye on her for a while, but I finally decided to make my move recently. She's a really sweet person, and I'd love to get closer with her.

5. Are you concerned about Kouichi?

J: Yes, I'm actually really concerned. I've gotten closer with him, and I've been beginning to notice how he's been acting. The shit his brother's been into is really affecting him, and there's not way in hell I'm going to let Kouji do that to him anymore.


	43. You Give Love a Bad Name

**Hellooooo. :D I know this is a little bit late, and I'm sorry. I hope this chapter makes it up to you! :D**

**Review replies for chapter 42:**

**Celestial Writer: **I know, poor baby. Dx Hooray for Izumi! Asashi/Izumi = LURVE! :D Aaaanyway, I hope you enjoy the next chapter, and thank you for reviewing! :D

**D4RKWR173R5: **Thank you so much! I hope you like the next chapter, and thank you for reviewing.

**Thankful Memories: **Me too! :D And I didn't want to make things too sexy and crazy **yet**, just because they're still fourteen, but they'll definitely be revisiting the hot springs again, if you know what I mean. ;D And Kouji's so shameless. I love it. xD Thank you very much for reviewing, and I hope you like the next chapter! :D

**Empyrea: **Yay! :D I know, Michiko is finally getting some attention! Asashi and Izumi make me smile. (: Yes, Kouji is such a good friend. When he's not being a major bitch. xD Ooh, is it a hint? xD I'm not gonna tell. Anyway, thank you for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter. :D

**Caliboy: **Eh, it wasn't that late. Don't worry. Congratulations on your girlfriend! Ehehe, I don't think Kouji's into Keiko that way. xD Thank you for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter!

**Jennison Silverye: **Hehe, go Kouji! :D TamoKouKei = Extreme drama, tears, and possible hissy fits. xD Or at least that's what I think. Actually, we're almost at the end! Just five or six more chapters. If we're lucky, that is. Ooh, are you attempting to foreshadow my insane plots? xD Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you like this next chapter! :D

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **Thanks, son! Ooh, you like Izumi, now! I knew it. You always did, too. Hah, too bad it's not going to happen. Bitch. Thanks for your review, man, even though it was horrible and anti-Izumi. But I hope you like this pro-Izumi chapter.

All of your reviews have been amazing! I appreciate them so much! :D

So, could you all answer a question for me in your next reviews? I was hoping you could tell me,

A: Who your 3 favorite characters in this story are,

B: Your three favorite couples

And C: You 3 favorite moments so far.

Thank you so much!

OH, and for all you writers out there, there's a **contest** being held by my-little-star for the best **TAKUMI **fic! I'll be judging, along with her, and don'tchaknowme4life. There are a lot of good writers, so do your best! It'll be a fun contest, and I would enter if I weren't already judging. Be sure to contact my-little-star if you want to enter, alright?

**

* * *

****Warning: Sexual themes in beginning-middle of chapter (Moderate), Violence towards the end of the chapter (Mild)****

* * *

**

"_I'm not very good at many things," Keiko said to the blonde who was sitting next to her. "You're always better."_

_The girl blinked. "You're good at a lot of things."_

"_Not as good as you," she said softly, running one of her fingers over a flower petal. "Or Saburo or Keiji and Naoki. They're all good at everything."_

"_That's not true…" Green eyes looked sympathetic._

"_I don't think I'm a Takishita sometimes," Keiko whispered. "I get really sad when you all can make mommy and daddy smile a lot..." She furrowed her brows, as if she were thinking quite hard. "But I can't." _

"_Why do you think that, Keiko?"_

"_I… feel like mommy and daddy don't like me sometimes. They don't look at me the way… they look at you guys."_

_There were suddenly arms wrapped around the brunette's frame. "I know mommy and daddy love you. And even if they didn't, I love you very much. You're my best friend."_

_Keiko grabbed the blonde's shirt and hugged her back. "Thank you, Ayame."_

**

* * *

**

"We're going to get married next week."

Keiji's eyes widened, as did his sibling's. Tamotsu tilted his head to the side, Akira furrowed his eyebrows, and Ayame gawked, slightly.

"You're getting married in a _week?_" Keiji demanded. "_A week?!? _You've barely had any time to prepare, and-"

"Aya and I have thought about it quite a bit." Naoki stared at everybody. "We're flying out to Italy, because it's Aya's dream to be married out there."

"But what do _you _want?" Keiko asked softly. "You've always said that you wanted to get married here in Shibuya, where mom and dad-"

"We discussed it together," Aya said in a slightly sharp tone. "And the decision we came to was to have a private wedding in Rome."

"How private is this wedding going to be?" Saburo asked. "I mean, there are different levels of privacy. Is this just a family thing, or…?"

"The only people who will be present at the wedding will be the priest, myself and Naoki," Aya said. "We want it to be a small wedding."

"We're… not invited to your wedding," Keiji said, his fist slowly clenching. "You're not letting us come to your wedding?"

Naoki was silent.

"You're not inviting your own siblings to your wedding?" Ayaka asked. "W-What?"

"It's what we want. I'm sorry." Naoki looked nervous, for what seemed like the first time since his parents died.

"I don't understand," Saburo said. "I don't… Why?"

"It's difficult to explain," Aya said. "We just… We're sorry."

Keiko stood up and grabbed her plate, walking to into the kitchen to throw out her food. Tamotsu stared at her, then heard her walk up the stairs. The blonde cleared his throat. "Thank you for dinner." He followed Keiko to her room.

"Come on," Saburo said to his boyfriend, who looked uncomfortable. "I'll drive us out to get some dinner somewhere else." The two walked out.

Keiji stood up, pulling Ayaka up as well. "We're leaving too."

"Keiji," Naoki said, standing up. "Just-"

"_Fuck _you," Keiji snarled.

Naoki's eyes widened. Keiji had always been his left hand man… His best friend. And now…?

Keiji and Ayaka walked out of the room, leaving only Naoki and Aya. The eldest Takishita stared down at his plate. He said nothing.

**

* * *

**

"Do… you want to talk?" Tamotsu asked softly, staring at the brunette who was laying face down on his bed.

"No…" Keiko mumbled into the pillows.

Tamotsu placed a hand on her back and slowly rubbed it. The brunette sighed. Tamotsu managed to get her on her back, before he pressed his lips to hers, settling on top of her.

The blonde wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her close, running a hand through her hair. Keiko buried her face in his chest, wrapping her arms around him and breathing deeply.

"Thank you," she whispered.

**

* * *

**

"So bored," Takuya groaned to himself, burying his face in his pillow. "Bokomon… What should I do?"

The white Digimon shrugged, his nose in his book. "I don't know. Don't look at me for your entertainment."

Takuya huffed. "What are you reading about?"

"I'm trying to look for information on the Demon Lords…"

The brunette crawled across the bed to peek over Bokomon's shoulder. "Have you found anything yet?"

"It says that they're the most powerful Digimon in the universe. Even stronger than the Celestial Digimon. Of course, the Legendary Warriors would have to beat them, but I just can't seem to find out how to."

"Hey, look… This page seems to be folded in," Takuya said, reaching over and pulling a page out from the book.

"Well, look…"

"What's it say?" Takuya asked eagerly, unable to understand the foreign language of the book.

"This part is about how the Demon Lords attempt to break the Human Legendary Warriors apart…"

"They're the ones who have been causing us to drift apart?" Takuya snarled, slamming his fist against the bed.

"No… They don't do anything. They just wait."

"So… you're saying that the reason we've all been moving apart… isn't them?" Takuya's eyes were wide.

Bokomon shook his head. "It's not them… It's you all."

**

* * *

**

"Kouichi," Patamon said softly, tapping on the lump underneath the sheets. "Kouichi, please come out."

"Go away, Patamon," the older twin replied lifelessly.

"Kouichi, please," Patamon whimpered. "Please don't be sad."

There was no answer.

Kouji walked in a few moments later, raising his eyebrows at the scene in front of him. "What's going on?" he asked.

Patamon was silent, and the little orange Digimon stared down at the bed sheets. Kouji narrowed his eyes. "Patamon."

He sighed. "Kouichi won't come out. He's been like this all day. Not that you would know, you haven't been home."

Kouji glared for a moment before he walked over to the bed and took a seat on the edge. "Kouichi? Is something wrong?"

"No," he mumbled. "Just go away."

The younger twin sighed and tried to pull the blanket away. "Come on, Kouichi. Talk to me."

"Leave me alone, Kouji. Please."

The raven sighed and stood up. Patamon stared. "Wait! Where are you going?"

"He doesn't want to talk," Kouji said. "And I'm not going to force him to, either."

Patamon sighed softly, feeling his heart break when Kouji walked out. "Kouichi…"

"Just go," Kouichi whispered. "I want to be alone."

Patamon complied.

**

* * *

**

"Mmm… Tamotsu…" Keiko whimpered.

The blonde hummed in his throat, nipping at Keiko neck. "You smell good."

Keiko groaned and shut her eyes tightly when one of his knees began rubbing slow circles between her legs. "Tease," she mumbled, sighing when Tamotsu pressed another kiss to her lips.

Tamotsu laughed softly, running his hands over her sides and moving down her body, kissing her chest, then her stomach. He moved even lower, until he was at the strip of skin right above the waistline of her shorts.

Keiko draped an arm over her eyes, knowing what was going to happen.

"Relax," Tamotsu murmured, pulling her shorts and underwear off with a quick sweep. "Just relax." He pulled the blanket over his head and went to work.

**

* * *

**

"Tamotsu…" Keiko whined, her pelvis undulating while she broke out into a sweat. "Oh God…"

Her eyes popped open and she made an embarrassing squeaking sound and arched up. Tamotsu rubbed her thighs soothingly as she let out tortured little cries of 'aah'.

When it was over, Tamotsu came back up, smiling coyly as he laid next to his girlfriend while she caught her breath. "You okay?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah."

"Take your arm off of your face," he said softly, pulling said appendage away. He sighed when he saw the embarrassed look on her face. He pressed a comforting kiss to her lips before pulling her into his chest. "You don't have to get embarrassed in front of me." It wasn't teasing, it was soft, and it was genuine.

"I know. I'm sorry." Keiko sighed softly. "It's just… It's just that it's _you…_"

Tamotsu smiled. "I guess that maybe that's a good thing, then."

Keiko huffed. "Although I might have lasted longer if Kouji hadn't taught you how to do that."

Tamotsu gawked. "_WHAT?!?_"

"He told me," Keiko mumbled, peering up at him with dangerous aquamarine eyes.

"Ugh." Tamotsu slapped a hand to his forehead. "Of course, you mention it right after that. I'm going to lose my erection."

Keiko grinned and pressed a hand against the straining crotch of his jeans. "I think I'll just get rid of this for you."

Tamotsu's cheeks flushed, but not with embarrassment. "Maybe you will."

**

* * *

**

"The dumbest thing I've ever done…" Izumi tilted her head to the side, staring at the card she chose. "Jeez, I've done a lot of dumb things."

Asashi laughed. "Well, pick one."

"Hmmm. Probably when I was twelve, I decided to come to school dressed like a whore." She snorted. "I found my mom's garter and I put a red streak in my hair. I found a picture of it recently, and I looked _so _bad!" She giggled. "I had chicken legs, and I had little mini-boobs, and all this stuff! And all of my guy friends thought I was the hot shit. Oh God. That was really dumb of me."

"Well, I'll tell you what," Asashi said, grabbing each of Izumi's ankles in his hands and dragging her closer, so she was in his lap. He ran his hands over her thighs. "You don't have chicken legs. Or mini-boobs. Not at all."

Izumi smiled and pressed a kiss to his lips. "Pick your card."

Asashi nodded and the girl slid off of her lap. He pulled a card out of the pile. "Let's see… The funniest thing I've ever seen in my life." Asashi smirked. "Probably when Michiko slapped Tamotsu across the face. Or when you threw your lobster salad at the waitress." He laughed. "That was the best."

"She grabbed your ass," Izumi mumbled. "Your ass is mine."

Asashi grinned. "I know. It's your turn, Izumi."

"Okay," she said, taking a card out. "The worst day of my life." Izumi was silent for a moment. She cleared her throat. "I…"

"You don't have to answer that one if you don't want to," Asashi said softly. "You can just pick a new one."

"I'll just stick it in my pocket for now," Izumi said softly. "And I'll answer that one later."

"Okay." Asashi nodded. "I'll pick one, then."

"Alright," Izumi said.

"Let's see. The sexiest thing I've ever seen you wear." Asashi laughed. "The sexiest thing I've ever seen you wearing… Probably when you wore my yukata. Or when you stole a pair of my boxers and wore them around the house."

"It wasn't so sexy when your mom almost caught me," Izumi mumbled.

Asashi laughed. "It was ever sexier."

Izumi smiled and picked another card from the stack. "The first time we met… That's a dumb one. We met in our math class. And then in the grocery store when I was buying stuff for a sleepover."

"You had a big booger in your nose," Asashi said.

"WHAT?!?" Izumi screamed.

"Kidding," Asashi said, grinning.

"Asshole." Izumi pushed him over. "Pick a card."

"The first time I wanted to kiss you." Asashi tilted his head to the side. "Umm. In the grocery store."

"Really?" Izumi's eyes widened.

"You looked really pretty." He rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know… You were wearing this lavender headband, and your hair was shorter, like, down to your shoulders, and- Why are you looking at me like that?"

Izumi giggled and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Because you're so sweet. That's one of the nicest things anybody's ever said to me." She hugged him tighter. "Thank you."

"I love you," Asashi murmured against her neck.

"I love you, too," Izumi said softly.

**

* * *

**

"Michiko, you have to eat something." Michiko's mother was standing in her doorway. "Please."

"I'm not hungry, mom," Michiko mumbled.

"You haven't eaten anything in three days!"

"Not hungry."

Her mother sighed in exasperation. "Fine. But if you don't eat anything tonight, I'll force you to eat something tomorrow." She slammed the door.

Michiko rolled her eyes. "I'll just throw it up, anyway."

The teen got out of bed and walked over to the bathroom, stepping on the scale. "123." She sighed at the number. At 5'3 she was a perfectly healthy weight. "Twenty more pounds."

She walked past the full-length mirror and glared at her reflection. "Fat ass."

**

* * *

**

"Hey there, Junpei?"

The teen turned around and looked at his mother. "Yeah, mom?"

The woman was smiling. "I just never got the chance to thank you."

The boy laughed. "For what?"

"It's just… If it weren't for your drive to lose all of that weight, then your father and I wouldn't have lost the weight either, and your father…"

Junpei stared. "Mom…"

"He wouldn't be here, now."

Junpei walked over and wrapped his arms around his mom, which he could actually do, now that she lost over a hundred pounds. "It's alright, mom."

"Thank you, Junpei," she whispered, pressing a kiss to his cheek, feeling slightly sad that she had to stand on her tiptoes to do so. "I love you so much."

"I love you too, mom."

**

* * *

**

"Bye, Tamotsu," Keiko said with a wave. "I'll see you in school on Monday."

"Bye, Keiko," he said, pressing a kiss to her cheek. "I'll see you around."

Keiko sighed and walked back into the house, trying to fight the blush coming up on her cheeks. She rolled her eyes at herself and habitually put a hand to her necklace. Her eyes widened when she found that it wasn't there. "Oh shit!" And she remembered that she took it off and stuck it on the side of the pool when she went swimming earlier this afternoon.

The brunette ran outside, ignoring the chill from the late night, and she headed towards the pool gates. She felt great relief when she spotted it right where she left it. She pushed open the gates and picked it up off of the floor, sighing softly.

Her ears perked up when she heard gasped when she saw a figure heading down the driveway of her house. "Hello?" she called, tilting her head to the side.

There was no answer. The brunette gulped. "U-Um, can I help you in any-"

She shrieked when a ball of darkness almost hit her in the head. "Barbamon," she whispered, preparing to evolve. A thought struck her. No, she couldn't fight here, the house and…

Keiko took a deep breath before she began sprinting towards the back, into the woods.

She was just at the edge, preparing to descend the hill, when a ball of energy slammed only inches behind her. At that point, she tumbled down the steep hill, getting scraped by the sticks and twigs laying on the floor.

She groaned when she finally stopped. Said stopping method was by a tree that her spine almost got cracked by. She shakily got to her hands and knees, and her eyes widened when Barbamon's body was suddenly flying full force at her.

Keiko moved out of the way, wincing at the soreness in her muscles. "Alright, then," she said, standing up. "Let's go. Beast spirit evolution!"

**

* * *

**

"See you Monday," Izumi said softly, smiling at Asashi. "Alright. I'll see you around, then."

The blonde waved when her boyfriend went to his car.

Izumi skipped back into her house, grinning widely. She stopped skipping when she accidentally stepped on her cat's tail.

"Sorry, Puck!" Izumi exclaimed as the cat sprinted out of the room. "Idiot."

It was at that point, that Izumi had a strange feeling in her chest. Like something was wrong. "Keiko…" she said softly. She blinked and shrugged. No, it was probably just her imagination.

**

* * *

**

"Passion Punch!" Keiko, merged with Chikarimon, felt so much stronger when she was in Beast Spirit mode. But it still was barely enough for her to hold her own against Barbamon.

"Crimson Flame!"

Keiko jumped out of the way of a blast of fire, gasping when another came from a different direction. The brunette-turned-blonde flew up into the sky, dodging the other flame.

Finding an advantage, as she was about twenty feet above him, she put her directed her pointer finger towards Barbamon. "Cher-"

With a sick cracking sound, Keiko was hurtling towards the ground. Subconsciously, felt a ripping pain in her back, and when she looked up, she saw that Barbamon was floating in the air just where she was.

Keiko managed to land on her feet, and as soon as she regained her balance, a black ring was being etched around her feet. The teen leapt out of the way, staring with wide eyes as the area that was once circled in black combusted in black flames.

Keiko began to run, jumping away from the black circles that were going around her feet. When she reached a point where she wasn't running for her life, she flew into the air again, ready to take him on.

_~I guess that this is going to have to be hand-to-hand, since I can barely land anything on him from a distance.~_

Clenching a fist, Keiko punched Barbamon on the side of the head, smiling victoriously when he flew a few feet away. The smile didn't last long, though, as she was hit hard in the ribs by his staff.

Keiko groaned and gripped her side.

_~This isn't going very well.~_

**

* * *

"Kouji! Patamon!"**

The raven, who was running down the street, was surprised when he saw Takuya running over to him.

"Did you feel it, too?" the brunette called.

"Patamon told me it was happening," Kouji said back.

The little Digimon was currently in Kouji's arms. "Kouichi wouldn't come with us! He locked his door and he won't come out of his room."

"What's wrong with him?" Takuya asked between breaths.

"I don't know." Takuya could tell by the tone of Kouji's voice that he was deeply disturbed by this.

"We'll worry about that later," Takuya said. "Right now we need to get to Keiko."

**

* * *

"Give me your spirit."**

Keiko spit dirt and blood out of her mouth, and glared at the ground. Barbamon crushed his foot harder into her back and she groaned softly.

"Fine, I'll just have to take it for myself."

Barbamon kneeled down, pressing a hand to her bared shoulder blade. Keiko felt a pressure there, and she gasped. Slowly, she went back to her human form. "Please," she mumbled into the dirt. "Don't take it."

"_Don't be afraid, Keiko."_

"How weak of you. You're not even trying to struggle. And you call yourself the Warrior of L-"

Barbamon didn't have a chance to finish his insult, as Keiko was suddenly up, and she threw him across the open field of grass with shocking strength.

The Demon Lord was shocked as he lay in a ditch recently created by the impact of his body into the ground. He immediately began to get up, so that he could retreat out of there.

Keiko saw him attempting to hoist his body out and she growled. Using the great strength she possessed, she leapt through the air and towards him. She pulled her arms back and cupped her hands together, using the jump as momentum.

She smashed him deeper into the earth, with her bare hands. A small platinum item flew out of his hand, and Keiko grabbed the small thing. She narrowed her eyes. It was the symbol for her spirit.

"Keiko, get out of the way!"

Keiko turned her head and her eyes widened when she saw Kouji charging at her. "Howling Star!"

The brunette scrambled away from her position, gasping at Kouji's speed as he rammed into Barbamon, who was actually sitting up this time.

"Shit," Kouji snarled, staring at the empty air. Barbamon was gone.

"Are you okay, Keiko?" Takuya asked, merged with Agunimon.

"I'm alright," she said softly. "But look." She held out the symbol in her hand. "Barbamon almost took this. It came from the tattoo on my back."

"It looks a lot like your spirits' symbol," Kouji said as he approached the two. Keiko raised her eyebrows. She hadn't seen Kouji in his beast spirit form, and it was every bit as stunning as his regular spirit.

His eyes were a strange amber color, and his hair was still dark, but it was cut shorter, up to his neck and it was as straight as a pin. His clothing consisted of shining silver and white armor, which covered his lower half and wrapped around his chest in intricate designs.

"I've never seen your beast spirit before," Keiko said. "It looks really nice."

"Thanks," Kouji mumbled.

"Were you fighting Barbamon in your beast spirit form, Keiko?" Takuya asked.

"Oh, yeah, I was," she said. "I felt a lot stronger that way. It was kind of crazy, actually."

"You weren't in your beast spirit form when you knocked Barbamon into the ground like that, though," Kouji observed. "How did you do that?"

Keiko was about to answer, but Patamon flew over, landing on Kouji's shoulder. "Because each the humans taking control of the Legendary Warriors adapt something from their spirits," he said.

"What?" Takuya asked, tilting his head to the side. "What does that mean?"

"Well, Keiko normally isn't that strong, right?" Patamon asked. "When she's a human, she still has Veenomon and Chikarimon's strength."

"Do you know what everybody else has?" Kouji asked. "Do we all take traits?"

"Kouji, you took Lobomon's and KendoGarurumon's speed, and Takuya, somehow, yours is the most advanced," Patamon said.

Keiko couldn't help but smile. It was so amazing that such a little guy had so much wisdom.

"You have a little bit of fire that you can use." Patamon tilted his head. "It's baffling."

"Baffling," Kouji said, chuckling. "Didn't know you had such an extensive vocabulary, Patamon."

The orange Digimon smiled brightly. "Thank you!" He hugged Kouji's head tightly, nuzzling his face against his cheek. "You have an extensive vocabulary, too!"

"Cut it out," Kouji grumbled, shutting an eye.

"Aww!" Takuya and Keiko squealed. "How cute!"

Kouji rolled his eyes, fighting a blush. "So what do we do about Keiko's symbol-thing?" he asked, trying to take the attention off of him. He took it from the girl's hand. "Are her spirits in here?"

"Yes. Those are what the Demon Lords are attempting to get from you guys. They're really what those tattoos of yours are made of. They hold your spirits in them."

"So how do I get them back?" Keiko asked.

"Well, where's your tattoo?" Patamon asked.

"It's on my shoulder blade," Keiko said.

"Then there should be an outline of the mark on it, and you just fit the emblem back onto the tattoo, and it should just go right back in," Patamon said, nodding. "Easy right?"

**

* * *

"Stop laughing, Keiko," Kouji snapped.**

"Sorry," Keiko said, suppressing laughs. "Takuya's doing weird faces."

"Takuya," Kouji huffed. "Stop making Keiko laugh."

Takuya imitated what Kouji said in a high pitched voice.

"God, you two," Kouji groaned. "This is awkward enough with Keiko half-naked here, you two are just making it worse."

"The back of my bra showing is barely half-naked," Keiko mumbled. "And I thought you were used to girls' bras."

Kouji pressed a hand to her back, pushing her a little bit. "When you talk, you move. I can't get the damned tattoo on when you fidget like this."

"_I can't get the damned tattoo on when you fidget like this,_" Takuya screeched from the bed.

Kouji sighed when the thing finally sunk in. "There. I got it." He glanced at the DVD player underneath the TV, which was playing some reality show. "And it only took twenty minutes."

"That's not bad!" Neemon chirped from the bed with Patamon. "It's a new record!"

Kouji sighed and walked over to the bed, dropping onto it face down. Keiko pulled her shirt back on, then she crawled on as well, so she was on the edge. Takuya was in the middle of it. "Was Barbamon hard to beat?"

Keiko nodded. "At first it was evenly matched, but then…" She sighed. "I just kept getting more and more exhausted, and he just kept getting more powerful."

"Well, there's always next time, right?" Takuya asked. "We need to be able to strategize against these things. We need to be able to find their weaknesses."

"They barely have any weaknesses," Kouji said. "They're indestructible."

"Way to be the pessimist to my optimist," Takuya said, rolling his eyes. "Pudding pop."

"Sorry about that, darling," Kouji mumbled.

"Mmmm… Takuya/Kouji…" Keiko said, rubbing her chin. "Takouji."

"I would top," Takuya said, grinning.

Kouji rolled his eyes. "Yeah right."

Keiko smiled. "You two would take turns." She sighed blissfully. "Yaoi. The best creation ev-" Keiko squawked when she fell off the bed, thanks to Kouji. "You _ass! _You pushed me off of the bed! _MY BED!"_

"You're being weird," Kouji muttered.

"You suck."

"No, Keiko, obviously you suck," Takuya said, pointing to a white stain on the bed. "What the hell is _that?_"

"Don't look at that!" Keiko screeched, leaping onto the bed. "Get out of there!"

"Jesus, Keiko, that's a lot!" Kouji said, his eyes wide.

"He must've been holding a lot in there!" Takuya jeered, cackling. "How often does he-"

"Out!" Keiko yelled, dragging Kouji and Takuya off her bed. "Get out!"

"Do your brothers still do your laundry?" Kouji asked.

"Yeah, what do you ask them? Can you help me with my jizz stains?" Takuya yelled, causing the two to break into a fit of laughter.

Keiko pushed them out of her room, slamming the door. Sometimes she regretted putting those two in the same room.

**

* * *

Once again, I'm sorry that this is late. Thank you all for reading, and I hope your review! It would make me smile. (:**

The winner of the contest this time around is Celestial Writer. She decided to interview Takuya:

1. So how are things with your friends?

T: Ah, they're alright, I guess. I've been hanging out a lot more with Keiko, recently. Kouji and I… I don't even know. We don't hang out as much. He's too busy with his whores and his brother. *Sighs* And we're supposed to be best friends.

2. Do you have any concerns about Kouji or anyone?

T: Speak of the devil. I have a lot of concerns about the twins, actually. Kouji because he's going down the completely wrong path, and Kouichi because he's shutting himself out from everybody else. I try to help, but there's really only so much I could do.

3. Any luck in your love life?

T: PFFT. NO. You know what? I've been so stuck on helping Kouji and Kouichi and everybody, that I've been neglecting myself. It's about time that I get some, right? No, I'm done wasting days on end trying to help other people.

4. Still got a crush on Izumi?

T: *Sighs* Always. But she's with Asashi, and they like each other so much. I can't compete with that, you know? I just… Maybe it's time for me to move on, you know?

5. If a monkey is purple and eats coconuts, does that mean you have gotten better in your soccer skills?

T: Well, since I'm _always _getting better at soccer, I guess that means yes.


	44. Breathe Into Me

I know what you're all thinking. Why the _hell _is Natalie updating early? Well, this chapter came out like Tamotsu's jizz. Quickly and easily.. I'm going to not only do the review replies up here, but also the interview. Please enjoy an early chapter!

**Review replies to chapter 43:**

**D4RKWR173R5: **Thanks for answering the questions. :D And sure, look below and you'll see my answers. xD Thanks a bunch for the review! :D

**Celestial Writer: **Thanks! :D Bahaha, they're perverts so of course they find sick amusement from that. I feel bad for them, too. ): Poor guys. And girl. xD Thank you so much for reviewing, and I hope you like the next chapter!

**Caliboy: **I can understand that you're upset, but this has been going on for 44 and more chapters, and I don't want to drag it on longer than necessary. I'm sure you'll be satisfied with the end. But thank you for the review, and I hope you enjoy the next chapter!

**SwAlLoWiNgDaNtE: **Thanks a lot! I hope you enjoy the next chapter! :D

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **Thanks, son, and yes, I will be revisiting that in the near future. But in a couple chapters. I like Izumi and Asashi too! They're my bitches. xD Thanks for ACTUALLY NOTICING THE FLASHBACK!!! Ahaha, thank you for the review and I hope you enjoy the next chapter. (:

**ThankfulMemories: **Hehe, I liked that too. xD Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter! :D

**INTERVIEW WITH TOMOKI!!! :D**

1. Okay, so how does it feel the youngest out of everybody who went to the Digital World?

T: It _sucks. _Hard. People _still _don't take me seriously. I'm the age now that they all were back then! I hate that they treat me like a child… Ugh.

2. Do you feel like people underestimate you sometimes?

T: _Yeah. _Like I said before, it's because of the whole age thing, but I think that they forget that I'm one of the LEGENDARY WARRIORS.

3. Who do you look up to most?

T: I'd have to say… Takuya. Even though I hated him for a while there, and I still have issues with him, I think that in a lot of ways, I'd like to be him.

4. How are things when it comes to Michiko?

T: I… don't even know right now. I don't exactly know how to answer the question. I miss her. A lot. I… don't know.

5. Are you a Bamf?

T: Ha, I'd like to think so.

Before we begin, a reviewer asked me to answer the questions I asked you guys to answer in those last reviews. So here are the answers:

A: Who are your three favorite characters? I'd have to say Asashi, Izumi and Takuya… For this week, at least. xD I don't know, I guess that their characters all have me intrigued. I also enjoy working with Saburo, because I can make him say whatever I want him to. xD

B: Who are your three favorite couples? My three favorite couples… Takuya and Izumi, Asashi and Izumi and Kouji and Izumi.

C: What were your three favorite moments? Jeez… I definitely liked the part where Izumi and Takuya bonded and were in the museum, I liked all of the twin moments, and I liked the part where Keiko walked in on Saburo. xD

**

* * *

**

**Warning: Sexual themes in middle and end of chapter (moderate).**

**

* * *

**"I've always wondered…" Keiko mumbled as she filled a bucket with sudsy water. "If soccer's a fall sport, why do we do the car wash in the spring?"

Tamotsu shrugged. "I don't know. Ugh, they just had to pick the hottest day, too."

"I know," Keiko said with a sigh. She stretched, arching her back. "But it's supposed to rain the rest of this week, and next week."

"That'll suck for lacrosse practice, though." Tamotsu huffed. "It's a lose-lose situation for me." The blonde draped himself over Keiko's back. "Comfort me."

The brunette laughed and patted Tamotsu's arm. "My poor baby," she said in a flat voice.

Tamotsu grinned and spun her around so that she was on the hood of the car they were supposed to be washing. "That's hardly comfort."

Keiko opened her mouth to reply, but suddenly they were being hosed down with water. The two of them just gawked.

"Hands off, bitch!" Keiji yelled from the side, hose in hand. "I'll _kill _you!"

Tamotsu moved back a step. "Well, then. Let's get to washing…"

Keiko nodded silently and picked up the sponge, glaring at Keiji, who simply waved back with a goofy grin on his face. "Bitch," Keiko huffed.

"ME?" Tamotsu asked, pointing to himself and gawking. "I didn't do _any_thing!"

"Not you," Keiko muttered.

"Oh." Tamotsu smiled to himself. "Good."

As soon as Keiko and Tamotsu finished with that car, a horn began honking loudly and obnoxiously. Keiko sighed, picking up the bucket and heading to the next one several feet away.

"Hi, how can we help you?" Keiko called. She blinked when she saw that it was Saburo standing next to his car. "Saburo?"

"Oh, hey Keiko!" Saburo exclaimed excitedly. "How's it going with the whole car washing business?"

"Not so good," Keiko sighed. "We haven't gotten too many cars because it's supposed to rain tomorrow."

"Well, rain doesn't have soap in it!" Takuya exclaimed, dragging another bucket over with Michiko at his side, sponge in hand.

"Well, that won't do," the youngest male Takishita said, reaching into his pocket. He pulled out a wad of cash.

Michiko squealed and held out the money bucket out. "Thank you, Saburo!"

The brunette grinned and tossed it in. "I expect a supreme washing, here, kids," he said.

"We're a year younger," Keiko grumbled playfully.

"Whatever." Saburo waved his hand. "And, Michiko?"

The auburn haired girl's ears perked up. "Yeah?"

"I'll give _you _five _hundred _dollars if you make sure Tamotsu and Takuya wash the car with their shirts off," Saburo said, waggling his eyebrows lecherously. "I've always wondered if they have six packs, you know?"

"Sure!" Michiko yelled, running around the car and literally tearing their shirts off.

Saburo smiled and tossed her a wad of money. "Thanks, Michiko!"

Michiko stuffed the money down her shirt and went right to scrubbing the wheels in the back of the car with Keiko.

**

* * *

**"My hands are pruny!" Takuya wailed as he walked into Keiko's room with Bokomon in his arms. "_STILL!_"

"Oh my God!" Keiko exclaimed. "Didn't you hear? If your fingers stay wrinkly for over and hour, you can _die!_"

Takuya screamed. "Are you serious?!?"

Keiko grinned. "Nope."

"Ugh." Takuya slapped a hand to his forehead, groaning. "You _whore. _You big, nasty, stupid bitch."

Keiko laughed. "You set yourself up for that one, pumpkin."

Takuya huffed and sat on her bed, stretching. "Is there any reason Michiko tore my shirt off like that? It almost ripped."

Keiko shrugged. "I don't think that I'm the one who should tell you," Keiko said. "Trust me. And you wouldn't want to know anyway."

Takuya blinked. "Okay…"

"Anyway, you came over to talk about something, right?" Keiko asked, wincing when she saw Bokomon snap Neemon's pants for some reason.

"Well, it's about Kouji," Takuya said. "And Kouichi."

Keiko furrowed her eyebrows. "About the two of them getting along or something?"

Takuya nodded. "Kouji doesn't even seem to care about Kouichi anymore, you know. Like, he's always at parties, or he's with Izumi. And when was the last time you heard from Kouichi? Besides seeing him in school, have you hung out with him outside of school?"

Keiko was silent for a moment. Everything was really beginning to hit her. "You… You're right."

Takuya nodded. "I'm not saying I'm not guilty of not hanging out with Kouichi or whatever, the exact opposite, actually."

Keiko blinked. "Are you able to stay over tonight?" she asked softly, peering up at the brunette.

"Yeah, probably," Takuya said. "Until like, midnight. Since it's Saturday."

"Let's invite Kouichi to come over, too. Is that okay?"

Takuya smiled. "It's fine."

**

* * *

**"Are you sure it's a good idea to go out tonight?" Patamon whispered from Kouji's side.

Kouji grumbled at the Digimon. He was really beginning to grate on his nerves. Constantly, he was trying to tell him what to do, and what not to do. He had really had enough. "Shut _up, _Patamon."

"Kouichi needs you," Patamon said desperately. "He needs you more than anything, and you're just _leaving _him alone again! Why can't you just stay home tonight, Kouji?"

Kouji ignored him completely, grabbing his phone from the dresser and heading out the door. "I'll be back late," he said to Kouichi, who was reading the same sentence over and over again in a book.

"Okay," Kouichi said lifelessly.

Patamon padded over to Kouichi, curling up on his lap and looking up at him with aching eyes. "Kouichi…"

Kouichi sniffled and Patamon tried to hug him with his short little arms. "Thank you," Kouichi said in a choked voice, pressing his face into Patamon's body.

**

* * *

**"Thanks for coming over," Junpei said as he opened the door to his house, smiling at Michiko as she walked in. "I grabbed a couple of movies. I wasn't sure which one you wanted to watch."

Michiko shrugged, smiling at the boy. "It doesn't really matter to me."

Junpei draped an arm around her shoulders and led her into his spacious living room. He pushed her towards the couch while he moved to the DVD player, getting the movie ready. "What would you rather watch, _Scream _or _Nights in Rodanthe_?" he asked.

"Personally, I'd rather watch _Scream,_" the auburn haired girl said sheepishly.

Junpei grinned at her. "I knew I liked you."

Michiko laughed and fidgeted slightly when Junpei was turned around. God, he made her nervous.

The teen came back to the couch, sitting down next to her, looking cool and composed. It was a complete paradox to the way she was feeling.

"You look nervous," Junpei stated, eyeing the girl.

Michiko shifted. _~You read my mind.~_

"I don't bite, you know," the brunette said, smiling slightly and lifting an arm up, an invitation for her to move to his side. "And I showered today."

The girl was happy that she was with him, because he knew how to make people feel comfortable. But honestly, she thought, how many times had _he _been uncomfortable with himself? His weight, his appearance; she knew it took a toll on him.

"And now you're zoning out," Junpei said, his arm still out. "Do I bore you that much?"

"No, that's not it," Michiko replied, crawling across the couch and curling under his arm, pressing against his side. "I was just thinking about you a little bit."

"I'm flattered," Junpei said, smiling. "What about? My charm?"

Michiko giggled. "I was thinking about how you're so good at making people comfortable. It made me wonder how many times you were _un_comfortable in your life, you know?"

Junpei blinked. "That's the first time I've ever heard anybody say something like that to me."

"I… didn't offend you, did I?" Michiko asked slowly.

"The exact opposite." Junpei wrapped his arm tighter around Michiko, thinking of a way to reply. "Nobody's ever thought about the way I felt during my ordeal with the weight and everything. Nobody tried to help me, nobody gave me advice. I've never really had anybody think of _me._"

"Does that make you sad?" Her voice was quiet, hesitant.

"Maybe," Junpei said. "I… But at the same time, it makes me happy _now, _because you're one of the first people that've actually _giv_en a shit. Nobody ever put my feelings into account. You make me feel… special."

"You _are _special," Michiko murmured. "And other people are crazy if they never realized that."

Junpei turned slightly, pulling the girl up and pressing a kiss to her lips. Michiko immediately kissed back. He smiled against her mouth. She tasted like cherries and sugar and something else that was so undeniably _Michiko _that he wanted to bottle it up and keep it for himself. She was so soft, and warm and she was just so her, and it made his head spin and his heart pound and his body overheat. Everything about her made him lose his cool composure and made him want to hold her close forever, like she was the only one who mattered.

Michiko pulled away, a flush on her cheeks and a shy smile on her face. "I… I've liked you for a while, now."

Junpei didn't answer, at least, not right then. Because at the moment, he wanted to drown in her lips again, and he wanted to feel her against him. "I like you a lot, too," Junpei murmured against her lips, and Michiko buried her face in his chest and wrapped her arms around his neck, laughing softly.

Junpei laughed too, and his hands went down her back, stopping right where her shorts began. "When a man and a woman love each other very much…"

Michiko snorted. "I would hardly call us a man and a woman quite yet. We're only fifteen."

"Hey, I'm sixteen, already. So that makes me your senior, little lady." Junpei pressed a kiss to the soft skin of her neck.

Michiko hummed in response. "We should date. Become girlfriend and boyfriend or something."

Junpei moved his lips up to her jaw, leaving light, butterfly kisses in his wake. "Sounds good to me. Girlfriend."

"I'm filled with all sorts of crazy ideas, boyfriend," Michiko responded, not missing a beat.

Junpei laughed. "I knew I liked you."

**

* * *

**"Hi, Kouichi!" Keiko exclaimed. "Come on in."

"Thanks," Kouichi said with a little smile, taking his shoes off and following Keiko up the stairs.

"Neemon missed you a lot," Keiko said. "He said so himself."

Kouichi laughed softly. "I've missed him, too."

Keiko pushed the door open to her room and walked in with Kouichi behind her. "He's here!" she exclaimed cheerfully.

Kouichi waved, looking slightly bashful. "Hi, Takuya."

"Hey, Kouichi," Takuya said, smiling at the boy. "You ready to play board games and listen to old 90's music?"

Kouichi shrugged. "Ready when you are."

**

* * *

**"Asashi," Izumi murmured, arching against him as he pressed light kisses to her neck. "Asashi…"

"You're so pretty," the brunette said against her collarbone. "So pretty."

"Asashi…" Izumi pulled him away from her neck and stared him straight in the eyes. "I want to go all the way."

Asashi's eyes widened. "Izumi…"

"Please," the girl whispered. "We've been together for almost a year now…"

"It's only been eight months, baby," Asashi said. "I don't know if-"

"If it's about hurting me, please don't worry," Izumi said. "I want this more than anything. So please…"

Asashi's gray eyes looked nervous. "Are you _sure, _Izumi? Are you absolutely sure you want to do this?"

"So sure," she mumbled. "Please."

**

* * *

**Kouji held back a yelp as he was pushed down to the bed. Natsumi climbed on top of him, straddling his hips and running her hands up his stomach, under his shirt. "Kouji," she said, smiling. "You're fucking _so _hot."

Kouji dragged her head down for a kiss, pushing his tongue into her mouth without hesitation. He jumped a little bit when the girl began to gyrate on top of him, digging his arousal into her hips. "Natsumi," he groaned. "You're going to make me-"

"Fuck me," she said, interrupting him. "Now."

Kouji's eyes went wide. "What? You want me to-"

"Yes," the blonde said, pulling her shirt off quickly. She moved her hands to Kouji's hips and kneaded them. "Come on. Let's do it."

"You're not a virgin, are you?" Kouji asked, frowning.

"Obviously not," she replied, pulling his shirt off, next. "And you're not either."

Kouji blinked. _~Yes I am. And I don't know if this is how I want to lose it.~_

"No."

"Good," Natsumi said. "And I'm on birth control. So I'm good. No condoms. How's that sound?"

Kouji didn't really know how that sounded. He had heard that it felt better without a condom, but he didn't know from experience, like she was insinuating. So he simply nodded. "Good."

Natsumi smirked, unbuttoning his shorts. "I know."

**

* * *

**"Asashi…"

Said teen smiled. "Yeah."

"I'm ready, now."

Asashi nodded and pulled his fingers out. He already had a condom on, thanks to Izumi's quick hands. "I'll ask you one more time, baby. Are you sure?"

"Yes," Izumi said. "I'm positive. Go ahead."

Asashi pushed in, his mind going blank from the tight heat he was sinking into. "Oh God," he groaned, clenching his eyes shut. He hit a barrier. "Izumi…"

"Go," she whispered, trying her best to stay relaxed.

Asashi pushed past, wincing when he heard Izumi's pained gasp. He stopped moving once he was buried to the hilt and he leaned down, trying to comfort her with kisses. "Relax. It'll hurt less."

Izumi nodded quickly, gripping Asashi's shoulders. "Just… don't move yet. Give me a second."

"Okay." Asashi kept pressing kisses along her jaw, running his hands across her naked sides and down to her trembling thighs.

Izumi felt like she was burning inside. Her heart was pounding, and everything looked blurry around the edges. The look on Asashi's face made her want to kiss the life out of him, but she was frozen in place. Finally, she got her lips to move. "Okay…"

Asashi pulled out slowly, then he moved back in, making a choked gasp as he did so. "It's so tight," he muttered. "A-And…"

Slowly, the pain went away to a dull ache, and the discomfort of being filled so intimately receded as well. And it was actually beginning to feel _good. _Really good.

Izumi began to arch up into his thrusts, holding his shoulders and mewling. She felt like she was coming in and out of consciousness, and that every little move sent a huge jolt of sensation through her body, from her toes to the tips of her fingers. And with every sound she made, he made an answering groan.

At that point, Izumi just watched his face, her green eyes wide. Asashi was gritting his teeth, and his hands were clenched in the sheets while his hips pumped back and forth. Heavy pants were falling from his lips, filling the room. He opened his eyes and looked at her, a desperate sort of look on his face. "I love you," he said.

Izumi cried out and arched up, gripping his arms as she reached the pinnacle of ecstasy. Asashi groaned as her walls tightened around him, and he dropped his perspiring forehead into her neck. With two or three more weak thrusts, he came as well, letting out a short sob of pleasure as he twitched inside.

There was silence for a moment, the only sound being their panting breaths. Asashi slowly dropped onto Izumi, the strength completely gone in his arms. The blonde wrapped her arms around him, pressing a kiss onto his lips.

"That was…" Izumi trailed off.

Asashi turned his head. "Amazing?"

Izumi smiled tiredly, nodding. "Yeah. Amazing."

The teen turned his face back into her neck. "Good."

**

* * *

**"Fucking _move,_" Natsumi snarled. "_Move!_"

With a shaky breath, Kouji complied. He pushed farther in, his hips shaking from the strain. Natsumi got fed up of his slow pace and grabbed his ass, pushing him in herself. Kouji cried out, his eyes wide.

"Now go. I'm not breakable!" Natsumi snapped.

Kouji nodded, moving in and out at a broken pace. Natsumi was attempting to meet his thrusts, but they were so unpredictable and rhythm-lacking, that she just gave up and waited until he used a different angle or switched positions.

Dark blue orbs went wide and Kouji moaned loudly, unloading inside of the girl. With embarrassment flooding his system, he sunk down into the bed, stuttering apologies.

"I thought you said you've done this before!" Natsumi huffed, standing up and grabbing her clothes off the ground.

Kouji was silent.

"That was the quickest fuck I've ever had. With a fucking virgin. I can't believe I didn't know that!" She dressed quickly. "I didn't even break a sweat. That was a waste of five minutes."

Kouji didn't speak as the girl pulled her clothes on with haste. She pulled him off the bed next and shoved his clothes at him. "Well, get out. The party's over and my parents'll be home in a minute. Go, come on!"

Kouji complied, putting his clothes on as well and walking out of the house. He stared at the sidewalk as he began to walk home. In five minutes, he had lost his virginity to some girl who he barely knew. He had known it would happen, but not with her, and not in such a humiliating way. It wasn't even worth it.

**

* * *

**Izumi pressed her face into Asashi's chest, taking a deep breath. "I wish you could stay the night."

The brunette sighed, pressing his face into Izumi's hair. "Your parents will be home any minute. And I don't want you to get into trouble."

"I know," Izumi whispered.

"Goodnight, Izumi," Asashi said, rubbing her back before heading out the window.

"Wait," Izumi said quickly, running to the window.

Asashi turned. "Ye-"

Izumi pressed her lips to his in a sweet kiss. "I… I love you. Have a safe trip home, okay?"

Asashi smiled. "Okay. I love you too, Izumi."

**

* * *

**Izumi groaned when her cell phone began to ring on her bedside table. She was _exhausted. _Who could be calling at such late hours? The blonde grabbed the phone and looked at the front, trying to recognize the number. She gave up and just opened it, pressing it to her ear. "Hello?"

"Izumi?"

She raised her eyebrows. It sounded a lot like Tamotsu. But why would he be calling? Did something happen to Keiko or Michiko?

"Tamotsu? What's wrong? What happened?"

"I'm at the hospital." His voice was void of all emotion. "Asashi got hit by a car. The driver was drunk."

"Oh my God!" Izumi cried. "Is he okay?" She pulled the blankets off and turned on the lamp. "I'll be there in a minute, okay?"

"No." Izumi froze. "Don't bother coming."

"Why?" Izumi asked. Her voice was shaking, her hands were shaking, her whole body was shaking and still and on fire and freezing at the same time, and she was hoping and _hoping _that he wasn't about to say what she thought he was going to say.

"Because he's dead."


	45. What Hurts the Most

Keiko: Hello there, everybody! Since the authoress is hiding from the wrath of the reviewers, I'm going to be answering the reviews and saying the author's notes!

Okay, so here are the review replies for chapter 44!:

**SwAlLoWiNgDaNtE: **Agreed! Thank you for reviewing!

**LoveCherrySnow: **I know! It's so horrible! Ugh, Saburo is such a creep! You can't encourage things like that with my brother. Thank you so much for reviewing!

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **Wait, how did _you _see it coming? Natalie… I'll kill her. Anyway, Junpei and Michiko are together? How come I'm never informed about these types of things? Pfft, yeah, Natalie can write sex scenes. You don't know half of the crazy shit she's made me do. Ugh. Thank you so much for reviewing, and I hope you like this chapter!

**D4RKWR173R5: **I know! I have no idea what happened either! Wait, wait… Kouji's a **virgin?!? **WAS? HUH?!? Thanks for reviewing, and now I need to figure out what happened to Kouji! Oh, and the number guessing contest is still going!

**SepherZmon: **If only it were! Thank you so much for reviewing, and I hope you like the next chapter!

**Celestial Writer: **I'm not sure, either! I really want to know what happened too! Junpei has a girlfriend?!? I hope me and Takuya can make Kouichi better too, but now with everything else going on, we need to help other people too. Thank you very much for your review, and I hope you like this next chapter!

**Caliboy: **And _this _is why Natalie's in hiding. Yeah, I don't know what happened either! Oh, but don't worry, she has plans for the future. She already told me! *Smiles* Thank you for the review!

**Jennison Silverye: **Poor Izumi. I really hope we can all help her. Ah, Takuya and Izumi sure would be cute. ME AND KOUJI!? *Shivers* That makes me nervous. I'm one of your favorites? Thank you! *Glomps* Thank you so much for reviewing, and I hope you like the next chapter!

**Empyrea: **That's okay! Cookies! Did you know that all the cookies you give Natalie goes to us? She says it's an apology for the crap she puts us through. Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter, too!

Okay, so Natalie asked me to say another thing. She's been thinking about what all of our voices would sound like. Of course, Kouji and Izumi and the others already have some, but she'd like **your feedback **on everybody else's **voice actors**!

So far, she thinks that my voice would be like Stephanie Sheh's voice, and her description for it was "like Orihime's from Bleach, except a little bit deeper". She also thinks that Asashi's would be like Michael Lindsay's voice, who plays Kisuke from Bleach. Ahem, a lot of Bleach characters there, eh, Natalie? Michiko would be Kate Higgins, Sakura from Naruto, or so she said. Anyway, she still wants all of your feedback on it! Thanks and enjoy the chapter you've all been waiting for! *Waves*

**

* * *

**

"Because he's dead."

Izumi dropped the phone. The room was spinning and it was suddenly too cold and she felt so _sick _that she knew that she could throw up at any moment. Everything was coming so fast that she had no idea what to do. What _should _she do? Why was this happening? _Why?_

The blonde shakily picked up the phone again, pressing it to her ear. "H-How… What's happening?"

"Asashi was walking outside. He got hit by a car," Tamotsu said. "The driver was drinking. Somebody saw it and called an ambulance." There was a pause. "Asashi died on a hospital table thirty minutes later because of blood loss."

"Are you okay?" Izumi asked, not knowing what else to say. Was he okay?

"Are _you?_" he replied softly.

She didn't answer. "I don't feel so well. I don't-" Izumi gagged, and she shut the phone, running into the bathroom and emptying the contents of her stomach with painful heaves. He was gone. He was _dead. _He… he-

Izumi sobbed twice before jumping up and running back to her bedroom. She grabbed a pair of shorts from the floor- shorts that she had already worn about a week ago, and she threw on a t-shirt. Running down the stairs, she pulled her flip-flops on and she was out the door.

* * *

"I know where she is," Keiko said into the phone as she walked down the stairs, an uncomfortable lump lodged in her throat.

"_Good,_" Kouji said, sighing softly. _"How's Tamotsu?"_

Keiko sighed. "I… don't know yet. I talked to him on the phone, but he just told me what happened and he said that Izumi hung up the phone on him. I… he hasn't said much."

"_Shit… I just can't believe it. The last thing I expected to happen was… Was for Asashi to __**die.**__ I just can't even fucking comprehend it._"

Keiko nodded, wiping at her eyes self-consciously. "I'm about to go get Izumi, so I'm gonna get going, okay? It's raining out and I can't talk on the phone while it is."

"_That's fine. I'll see you._"

"Bye," Keiko said. She stuck her phone in her pocket and stared at the rain. The last thing she was caring about at the moment was getting wet or getting sick, or whatever.

She walked out into the rain, slightly relieved when she found that the rain was lukewarm. It was the end of May, after all.

Keiko began to jog down the street, knowing exactly where Izumi would be.

**

* * *

**"Asashi," Izumi whispered, stumbling and falling to her knees. "Shit. Asashi…"

Izumi sniffled miserably when it began to rain.

_~Even the skies are crying.~ _

Izumi just stared at the ground, shifting a bit as she tried to stop the tears from coming. A pain went through her leg, and the blonde looked down, feeling something in her pocket. She pulled it out an her eyes went wide. It was a card from the game they had been playing just a week or so ago. The card with the question she hadn't answered. Izumi felt the tears drip down her face.

_The worst day of your life?_

"Today," Izumi whispered, finding that that one simple word broke the dam. And then the tears and the sobs began coming, breaking her heart completely. She missed him _so much. _He wasn't just a little high school boyfriend; she was completely taken by him. And he was her _friend. _

An arm when around Izumi's shoulders, and then something warm spread over her back. "Asashi…" she whimpered, sobbing harder.

"N-No… It's Keiko."

The blonde grabbed the girl and dragged her over, weeping miserably into her chest. She felt like such a baby in the back of her mind, but right now, she could care less. There was a sudden realization that she needed Keiko so much right then, and she cried even harder. But she felt thankful that the brunette was holding on to her and stroking her hair.

"Why did this happen?" she asked, her words muffled by Keiko's shirt. "Why did this have to happen?"

"I'm so sorry, Izumi," Keiko said softly, really not knowing else what to say. "I'm so sorry."

"I didn't know he was going to die," the blonde sobbed. "I wish I had just let him stay over."

Keiko opened her mouth, ready to ask what Asashi was doing there, but she didn't. Izumi was already going through hell, and the brunette was pretty sure she knew why he was there. "It's okay, Izumi. It's not your fault."

Izumi nodded. She knew it wasn't her fault, and she didn't want to jump to that conclusion. "I just can't believe he's dead," she sobbed. "I just… I can't believe it."

They sat outside for a long time, and after a long time of tears and crying, Izumi's wailing tapered off into soft hiccups and sniffles. It was still pouring on top of them, and Keiko decided that she had to get them out of the rain.

"Izumi, come on," she said. "Let's go to my house. You can take a shower there, and get some sleep."

"I don't know if I can sleep," Izumi said. "I just…"

"You must be exhausted," Keiko said. "It'll help. Come on."

Izumi complied, walking with Keiko back to her house. It wasn't terribly far away, but when it was raining the way it was, it could be a tough walk.

"Keiko, Izumi."

Izumi didn't look up from the ground, but Keiko turned and was surprised when Junpei's Jeep (xD Junpei's Jeep.) was driving slowly next to theirs. His window was rolled down and Kouji was in the passenger seat. "Come on," the older teen called, and the girls complied.

Keiko slid into the car, followed by Izumi, who shut the door behind them. The blonde immediately laid across the seats, resting her head on Keiko's lap.

"There are towels in the back," Junpei said as he began to drive. "Are we bringing you two to your house, Keiko?"

"Yes, please," Keiko said as she draped a towel over Izumi, who still wasn't speaking.

Kouji turned a little bit, looking at Izumi concernedly. He raised his eyes back to Keiko, who looked quite sad herself. "Are you guys okay?" he asked, pushing some hair out of Izumi's face.

Keiko blinked at his actions, but she nodded. "Yeah… Are you?"

Kouji nodded. "I'm alright. Have you spoken to Tamotsu?"

"No," Keiko said softly. "Not yet. I think I'll call him tomorrow."

"Right," he mumbled. He looked back to Izumi.

The way he was looking at her… The brunette blinked again, taken aback. It was as if she was the most important person in the _world _to him. Like _he _was in love with her.

"Izumi," he murmured, the tone of his voice completely different from when he spoke to Keiko only moments ago. "Are you okay?"

The blonde nodded. "I'm okay."

"How long were the two of you out there?" he asked Keiko.

There it was again. His voice became gruff when he was speaking to her, but when it was Izumi… It was like he had a soft spot for her. Keiko had always known that Kouji liked Izumi, but the way he was treating her went way beyond just _liking _her. Way beyond.

"Keiko," Kouji repeated.

"Oh, sorry," Keiko said softly. "I'm not even sure. I left the house at like, two in the morning to go and find her."

"You two were out for two hours," Junpei muttered.

"Izumi was probably out even longer," Keiko said. "I think she had been out for a while when I found her…"

Kouji sighed. "Izumi…"

Keiko opted to stare out the window for the rest of the trip, allowing her thoughts to drift towards Tamotsu. She wondered how he was doing…

**

* * *

**"Don't cry, Michiko," Tamotsu whispered, burying his face in her hair. "Please…"

"I just can't believe it," she sobbed. "He's gone. And when he died the two of us were fighting over stupid shit."

"He knew you cared," Tamotsu replied, swallowing around the annoying lump in his throat. It wouldn't do to cry now. He needed to help Michiko.

"I hate myself for that." She sniffled. "I hate myself. I wish it were me! Why couldn't it be me? He didn't deserve it, he didn't-"

"Enough!" Tamotsu suddenly yelled, grabbing the auburn haired girl by the shoulders and shaking her. She looked shocked. "Stop it! Just… Do you really think that this is what he wants?"

Michiko opened her mouth for a moment, then closed it, shaking her head. "N-No…"

"Don't say that." Tamotsu sighed. "He… He knew that you cared about him. Don't ever think anything different. He loved you. He loved us both."

She scrubbed at her cheeks weakly. "Tamotsu…"

"I know," Tamotsu murmured, pulling her into another hug. "I know."

**

* * *

**Keiko peeled her eyes open, groaning softly when she saw that it was nine in the morning. Izumi had spent the night, and her brother had decided not to make them go to school. Izumi's parents were in on this, of course.

Slipping out of bed, Keiko grabbed her cell phone and headed downstairs and to the living room. She sat on the couch, and taking a deep breath, she dialed Tamotsu's number. A message was all that she wanted to leave for him. But she was still scared.

"_Hello?"_

Well, she hadn't expected him to actually answer. "Hi, Tamotsu…"

"_Hi, Keiko."_

"I was just… wondering how you're feeling. Are you okay?"

"_Yeah, I'm fine."_

"I just really wanted to hear your voice." Shit, she sounded desperate. "I just wanted to know that you're alright. How's Michiko?"

"_She… took it pretty hard. The two of them weren't getting along very well when he died."_

"Poor Michiko." Keiko felt the tears forming in her eyes. She felt a great sympathy for Tamotsu. It was so obvious that he was in great amounts of pain.

"_Is Izumi okay?"_

Keiko nodded, then cleared her throat, realizing that he couldn't see her nod. "She wasn't doing very well last night… Or _really _early this morning." Her heart throbbed. God, she really wanted him to be here. She wanted to hold him so badly.

"_I can imagine… Hey, Keiko, I'd better get going. Michiko's waking up, now."_

"Oh, okay…"

"_I'll call you in a couple days."_

A couple of days… "I l-" Keiko gasped sharply and pressed a hand to her mouth. She had just been about to say 'I love you'. "I'll be waiting," she whispered instead. Why was she getting so choked up? "Feel better…"

"_Thank you… Bye, Keiko."_

"Bye," she murmured, shutting her phone and curling up on the couch, taking a deep breath. Izumi would be waking up soon as well. She should be there.

So she went back upstairs.

**

* * *

**"The night that Asashi died…" Keiko said softly, staring at the blonde sitting against the headboard. "You had sex with him, didn't you?"

Izumi took a deep breath, then she nodded. "Yes."

"I… had thought so," Keiko muttered. "I'm sorry, Izumi…"

She was silent. Keiko sighed. What did it take to make Izumi _talk _to her? It just seemed so impossible.

"I think I'm going to go home, now," Izumi murmured. "Thank you for letting me stay here, Keiko. I just… need to be alone for a little while."

"Are you sure?" Keiko asked. "You could stay in a guest room, or-"

"It's fine, Keiko. I just need to be home right now." Impassive green met aching aquamarine.

"Saburo can probably bring you home."

**

* * *

**The funeral was a miserable affair. It was held outside, four days after Asashi's death, in the rain. Some had umbrellas, and others didn't; the rain wasn't exactly what was on their minds though.

Tamotsu stood next to Michiko, one hand clenched into a fist, the other laced with hers, and Izumi stood on his other side, latching onto Keiko's arm, who was on her right, and crying softly. The brunette was completely still and silent, staring at the closed casket (apparently the boy's body had been mangled, and he had had his organs donated; he was in no condition to be seen) with no expression on her face, and Kouji was in the same state, save for the moments that he wiped his eyes, stubbornly. Junpei was next to Michiko, looking like he wanted to comfort his girlfriend, but he knew that she needed Tamotsu, and that they had barely even been together for very long. So he stood awkwardly with Takuya, Kouichi and Tomoki, trying to ease the pressure in his chest.

The casket was lowered into the earth and Tamotsu squeezed his eyes shut and took a deep breath. There was nothing he could do now, and that's what scared the shit out of him.

And just as quickly as it started, everything started, it ended, and people were heading back to their cars, hoping to get out of the rain. Asashi's father had to pull his wife away from the casket, as she was sobbing hysterically.

They (being the ten, now nine, people in their group of friends) all began to head back, but Keiko paused when she noticed Tamotsu wasn't there. Michiko stopped as well, turning her head and blinking back tears.

The blonde was just standing there, allowing himself to get soaked by the rain. He was staring at the hole in the ground where his best friend was, and he was shaking slightly. Suddenly, he pressed both of his hands to his face, taking in a shaky breath. And then he was sobbing, trying his hardest to hold back the tears that he hadn't shed at all throughout this hell.

"Tamotsu," Michiko said softly. She walked over to the teen, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Tamotsu…"

"He's gone," Tamotsu sobbed brokenly, his voice muffled against his hands. "He's gone…"

Michiko sniffled but held herself very well. "I know."

Tamotsu wiped his eyes with his sleeve, hiccupping. "I m-miss him so much already."

Keiko looked as if she wanted to go over and help, or hug him or _anything _to help ease his pain, but this was something that only Michiko could do, and she stayed back, hoping that she would be able to help later.

"We all do," Michiko said, wrapping her arms around the shuddering boy. "It's okay." Tamotsu was shaking hard, his sobs muffled against Michiko's shoulder.

"We should let them be alone," Tomoki said softly, turning his head away.

"You're right," Junpei said, Kouichi nodding in agreement, and they all headed in the opposite direction.

Takuya took off his jacket and put it over Izumi's shoulders, taking her hand and leading her away. The blonde complied easily.

Keiko hesitated, looking torn between comforting her boyfriend and going inside.

"Keiko," Kouji muttered, stopping while everybody else headed inside. "There's nothing you can do right now."

The brunette sighed and walked through the thick mud back to the car, where she knew the others would be waiting.

"Were you and Asashi very close?" Keiko murmured, looking through the rain up to the raven next to her.

"Not as close as he and Tamotsu were." Kouji stuffed his hands into his pockets. "But we were getting to be close friends. We were in lacrosse together, remember?"

Keiko nodded, running a hand through her dripping hair. "Oh."

"You were pretty close to him, right?" Kouji asked.

It was quite surprising to her that he was actually taking part in, and initiating the conversation. "Through Tamotsu and Izumi we became friends."

Kouji nodded. "I figured." His eyes wandered to the sky, and he ignored when the rain began to fall into his eyes. "This rain's gonna make me sick." He coughed lightly. "Literally."

"I know," Keiko said, agreeing. "It's been going on for days now."

"We're here." Keiko looked up, and she realized that he was right. The car was right in front of them.

"Hurry, guys!" Junpei exclaimed. "You'll get sick."

Kouji and Keiko got into the car and shut the door behind them. The car didn't move. They were still waiting for Tamotsu and Michiko.

It took about twenty minutes, but the two finally made it, and they all squeezed into the SUV together. Tamotsu's eyes were red-rimmed, but he was no worse for the wear. He even smiled and thanked Junpei for waiting. So he drove them all home.

**

* * *

**"No!" Izumi wailed, laughing. "You can't _do _that with the flour, Takuya!"

"Well, I know that now," the brunette grumbled, trying to wipe the flour off of his face. "This is just fantastic."

Keiko smiled. "It's your own fault. You're not supposed to blow into a bag of flour."

"I wanted to see a miniature snowstorm," Takuya huffed, looking upset. "But obviously I can't ever have what I want."

If it weren't for Takuya, the mood probably wouldn't be as good as it was. He was the one who decided, a couple days after the funeral, that they should bake something, and watch the funniest movie they could find. Of course, they all agreed easily.

Kouji looked around the room before he slowly dipped his finger into the cookie dough and stuck it into his mouth. Nobody knew just how much he loved cookie dough. Nobody.

"I saw that," Tomoki said, smiling as he took the bowl away from the older teen.

Kouji harrumphed before he walked over to the bowl Michiko was stirring, hoping that he could possibly steal some more from her once she took her eyes off of it.

Saburo came into the kitchen, raising his eyebrows, but saying nothing. He simply walked to the refrigerator, and pulled out whipped cream, cherries and chocolate syrup.

"What do you need all that for, Saburo?" Keiko asked.

The boy smirked.

"Don't you need a bowl?" Junpei asked curiously.

He smirked even wider. "Not with what _I'm_ doing with it."

Izumi and Michiko cackled. Saburo joined in. Keiko almost threw up in the sink.

"Have fun you guys," the older boy said, waving.

Michiko and Izumi waved back. "You too!"

"Don't encourage it," Keiko whimpered from the sink. "He'll just appreciate himself more."

"Keiko imouto-chan is so cute," Saburo said as he walked out.

"Asshole," Keiko grumbled. "Not cute."

"Okay, the cookies are in the oven!" Tamotsu announced, smiling. "And Kouji, no more cookie dough." The teen stuck his finger in his mouth rebelliously, not caring that he had been caught. "Let's watch that movie!"

**

* * *

**"_You have the voice of an angel. Your voice is like a combination of Fergie and Jesus."_

"I'm gonna run and grab some more popcorn," Tamotsu said above the laughter. "Don't worry, Keiko. I know where it is."

The brunette smiled and shifted slightly when he walked out the door. Even though he and the others had been over for so long, she had barely had the chance to talk to him. Hell, she hadn't even been able to touch him since Asashi's death. She sighed and stood up, walking out, too.

She peered into the kitchen, her heart pounding hard in her chest. Why was she getting so nervous? She had been with the guy for over six months, and she was still anxious. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and smiled at him.

"Hey," he said softly, putting a bag of popcorn into the microwave.

"Hi, Tamotsu," she replied.

"Didn't think I could find the popcorn?" he asked, grinning. Keiko was taken aback. He looked so…

Beautiful.

She had never noticed how gorgeous he was. That smile was just so… Keiko blinked. "I just…" She took a deep breath and opened her arms, not really knowing what else she should do.

Tamotsu stared silently for a moment, then he walked over, moving into her arms and pushing his face into her shoulder. Keiko clutched at him. Finally, she was able to hold him. Throughout the entire ordeal, she hadn't had one chance to hug him or comfort him, and she felt her heart bloom when she finally had him back in her arms, if only for a few moments. No, she wasn't jealous of Michiko, or their friendship, she just wished that she was more than just The Girlfriend, and… Keiko clenched her eyes shut.

She loved him. She wanted to be more than just his girlfriend or _whatever_, because she wanted to be the one he went to when he was sad, and the one that he wanted there all the time.

The brunette knew, though, that the one he needed to most was Michiko, since she had known him the longest. It stung. Keiko spent so much time with him, and she wasn't even able to really talk to him or touch him for a week. Maybe she _was _jealous.

And now, when she was finally able to hold onto him, she didn't know what to say. She didn't want to pressure the boy into talking about it with her, because in a way she knew that he probably wanted to have something else on his mind. But she _desperately _wanted him to talk about his feelings, and she wanted him to look to her for closure for a bit. Because _she _meant something to him, too, right?

Keiko took a deep breath. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," Tamotsu said softly. "Better than I was before."

The brunette nodded, deciding that she didn't want to speak anymore. She had no idea what she wanted to say at all. She didn't want to force the guy to cry, but she wanted him to open up to her. Keiko sighed. She was just being selfish, now.

"They're probably wondering where we are right now," Keiko murmured, feeling upset that the hug had to end so quickly.

"It's okay." Tamotsu smiled. "They can wonder for a little while longer." Keiko shivered when she felt his breath breeze across her neck. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you, too."

Ten minutes later, they were back in the living room.

**

* * *

**"Hey, Tamotsu," Kouji said, looking at the teen with slight surprise in his features. "I didn't think you were coming back until Thursday."

The blonde shrugged a little bit, moving to his locker and entering the code. "Well… I just don't want to miss too much. Asashi would probably kick my ass if he found out I hadn't been to practice in so long."

"Oh." Kouji stared at him for a moment before sighing and standing up. "I… want to let you… I didn't get to say it earlier, but…" Kouji sighed again.

Tamotsu cocked his head to the side, blinking. "Huh?"

Kouji looked slightly frustrated. "Look, I'm not very good at this…" But then he moved forward and pulled Tamotsu into a awkward hug. "I'm sorry about Asashi."

The blonde was sort of shocked, and he looked at Kouji with an almost bewildered expression. "Th-thanks, man."

Kouji nodded and went back to his locker. "You're welcome."

Tamotsu began changing, still slightly confused. Deciding to break the awkwardness, he turned around and offered Kouji a crooked grin, the same one that Keiko and Izumi deemed the 'sexy smile'. "So does this mean I'm topping tonight?"

Kouji rolled his eyes, but went along with it. "You wish, bitch."

"Ah, shit," Tamotsu said with a quick laugh. "And, uh… Really… Thanks a lot, Kouji." He struggled with himself not to glomp the boy. He didn't tell many people this, but he was extremely touchy and affectionate with people.

Kouji gave him a genuine smile. "Don't mention it, Tamotsu."

**

* * *

**"Hi," Michiko said softly, smiling at Junpei.

"Hey," the older teen replied, smiling back and opening up his arms for her.

The auburn haired girl smiled at the familiar gesture and she moved into his arms, taking a deep breath when her face ended up buried in his chest. It smelled just like him.

"You ready to head out?" he asked, pulling away.

"Yeah…"

The two headed to his car and got into it. Junpei frowned and shook the rain off. Michiko giggled.

"What?" Junpei asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You looked like a dog," she said, still laughing softly.

Junpei snorted and grinned. "Well, thanks."

Michiko just stared at him for a minute. "I'm glad that… we're dating."

Junpei made a little noise of approval as he backed out of the driveway.

"It's been a little crazy lately, ever since…" She paused. "Asashi died.. And I know that we haven't been able to spend time with each other very much, but…"

Junpei leaned over and sweetly kissed her on the lips. "Don't worry about it. We have time now, right?"

Michiko smiled. "Right."

"Then relax," Junpei murmured. "The last thing you need right now is stress."

Michiko giggled again. Junpei thought her laugh was the most adorable thing he'd ever heard. "You act like I'm pregnant, or something."

Junpei grimaced. "Let's not get too hasty, baby."

_~Baby… I like it when he calls me that.~ _

"Sorry," she said sheepishly.

"It's fine," Junpei replied. "Don't worry."

And she didn't.

**

* * *

**Keiko: Well, Natalie begs of you not to kill her! Anyway, she reminded me to remind you about the voice actors thing I mentioned in the author's note in the beginning of this chapter!

One more thing she wanted to add: If you ever want one of us to reply to your reviews, rather than her, 'cause she's _boring, _feel free to ask! Anyway, this week's winner of the number guessing contest was Celestial Writer and her sister Amber! They decided that they wanted to interview Izumi!

1. Are you feeling alright after what happened to Asashi?

I: I'm doing as best as I can, I guess. I've come closer to accepting it, but it's still hard. It was just so sudden…

2. Are you going to give up on love?

I: I'm… going to take a break for now.

3. You're not going to do anything drastic, are you?

I: _No. _I would never do anything like that. NEVER.

4. You're not going to block out everyone from your life like Kouichi, are you?

I: No. Not consciously, at least. I'm just going to try my best to live my life to the fullest.

5. I don't really have a question here, but I hope you feel better.

I: Thank you so much.


	46. Living on a Prayer

**Review replies to chapter 45:**

**GirlsLikeeBoys:** Three words: Deal with it. And a final thought: _Bitch_. Thanks for the review doll. :D

**Caliboy: **(Keiko: I love you too!) Don't feel bad! I actually thought it was pretty funny. xD Thank you for the review and I hope you like the next chapter!

**Celestial Writer: **I know! Poor Asashi. D: And you never know with Kouji. He has no shame. (Kouji: Yeah.) Ooh, good ideas with the voices… Anyway, thank you a lot for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter.

**SepherZmon: **I know! I laughed when I wrote that. xD He was only there twice in this chapter! WHAT'S GOING ONNNN?!? Thank you for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter! :D

**D4RKWR173R5: **Thank you! I really appreciate the review, and I hope you like the next chapter! :D (And in regards to your other review, those were only written as little ideas. It may or may not happen.)

**Jennison Silverye: **Hooray! :D I know. I miss poor Asashi already. D: Takuya's so sweet! I love that guy! xD Kouji can be pretty nice… When he wants to be. xD Thank you so much for reviewing, and I hope you like the next chapter! :D

**SwAlLoWiNgDaNtE: **I know, same here! Thank you for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter! :D

**Empyrea: **I know. So many emotions in the last chapter. Dx Thank you so much for the review (Keiko: And the cookies! *Chomps star cookie*) and I hope you like this chapter! :D

Yeah, yeah. I'm late. Dx I've just been pretty busy lately. Lmfao. Not really. xD And as a warning, this chapter is **unbetaed**. So don't comment on any mistakes I may have look over. Anyway, without further ado, here's the beginning of the finale of The Beginning of Forever! :D

**

* * *

**

"Takuya," Kouji whispered, tears rolling down his face. "Takuya, please." Takuya turned and Kouji stared at the face of his best friend.

He was smiling.

**

* * *

**

"The last day of freshman year!" Takuya yelled loudly as he, Kouji and Kouichi headed down the street towards school. "Can you two believe it? I can't!"

Kouji smiled, which was totally not his style. Not that he cared. "I can't either. And the rain finally stopped."

"Don't forget that it's your and Kouichi's birthday in another two weeks!" Takuya exclaimed. "I think I'm more excited than both of you put together!"

"I'm excited, I'm just not insane like you," Kouji grumbled.

"Are you excited, Kouichi?" Takuya asked, turning around and smiling at the older twin.

He smiled a little bit. "Sure I am. I'm not really sure what I want, though."

"Really?" Takuya's eyes were wide. "I know what I want months in advance! Hell, I already wrote my Christmas list!"

Kouji snorted. "Yeah right, I doubt-" A piece of paper was thrust into his face.

"Shit. You really wrote your Christmas list, didn't you?" Kouji muttered, staring at it. "Wait, mouse traps? Why do you want mouse traps?"

Takuya grinned and took the list back. "The real question, Kouji, is why _not?_"

Kouichi laughed softly. "He got you there, Kouji."

The younger twin muttered something under his breath. He sighed then looked up to the sky. "Where are we meeting the girls for breakfast?"

"We were just gonna go to that little coffee house a couple blocks from the school," Kouichi answered. "Izumi said she wanted coffee."

"That coffee house, there?" Takuya asked, pointing to a small building.

"Yeah, that one," Kouichi replied, smiling a little bit. Inside, he was overjoyed that Kouji had been home lately.

"Great, I'm starving," Takuya said, leading the way inside. It was a good sized place, and the decorations were actually quite interesting. There was a long counter, and several tables around the lounge. Different coffee makers were strewn across the back.

"Guys! Over here!" Izumi called, waving. She was sitting next to Keiko, who was spreading jelly all over her bagel.

The three made their way over to the table. Kouji sat next to Izumi and Kouichi next to Keiko. Takuya was between the twins.

"Is it really necessary to put that much jelly on a bagel, Keiko?" Kouji muttered, narrowing his eyes at the brunette.

Keiko looked up to him and grimaced. "Um, I guess not." She laughed sheepishly. "I guess I just have a sweet tooth." She set it back down on the table.

Takuya blinked. "Keiko, if you like your bagel like that, eat it. Don't let that bastard ruin your appetite!"

Keiko smiled half-heartedly. "It's okay. Really. I need to cut down on the sugar anyway. I'll just go without this time, okay?"

Kouichi took the bagel. "How about you eat half, and I'll eat the other half?"

Keiko stared at the boy, who tore it in half, giving her one of the C-shaped pieces. "Th-thanks, Kouichi." She took it and smiled at him.

Izumi grabbed Keiko and dragged her face into her chest. "Kouji, don't pick on my baby!" She covered Keiko's ears. "She's sensitive."

Kouji smiled at Izumi's antics, but didn't reply.

Keiko was trying to say something, but her words were muffled. "What's that, Keiko?" Izumi asked, pulling the girl out.

"I said that I can't breathe around your boobies. 'Cause they're gigantic," Keiko said.

Izumi's jaw hit the table. The aforementioned phrase is not to be taken literally. "Jealous!"

Keiko glanced down at her own chest. They weren't exactly _huge, _like Izumi's, but the again, they were kind of on the small side. But she was closer to average! Sort of. "Hmm. Yeah, I am."

Izumi laughed. "Well how was your guys' morning?"

"Kouji used all the hot water in the shower," Kouichi said, smiling at his brother, who crossed his arms and huffed.

"It takes a lot of water to wash all of the shampoo out," Kouji grumbled.

"I'm just stoked that it's the last day of school today!" Takuya exclaimed, grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm kind of going to miss it a little bit," Keiko said, her eyes turning soft. The face that she was making was the same one that caused Tamotsu to start having a crush on her. "But I'm happy at the same time."

"Me too," Izumi said. "I just hope it's a good last day. Hopefully none of the teachers cry, either."

"If the teachers cried, I would probably cry, too," Takuya admitted.

Kouji raised an eyebrow. "Are you serious?"

Takuya nodded. "Yeahh. Pretty much."

Izumi sighed softly and glanced at the clock mounted on the wall. "Twenty more minutes until eight. Should we start heading over, now?"

"Yeah, probably," Kouichi said, standing up from his seat.

The others got out of their seats and headed back outside into the warm almost-summer air. "I love the weather," Izumi sighed, smiling and tilting her head up to the sky. Her hair was shining in the rays of sunlight.

Keiko blinked and stared down at the sidewalk. _~Man, she's pretty.~ _Really, though. Keiko was beginning to believe that every single aspect of Izumi was attractive. Her face, her hair, her body, her _personality. _There were a million little truths that proved to her that she would never own up to Izumi.

"_There're a ton things that make me see that I'll never be enough."_

"_Keiko, don't talk that way. You're more than enough. I love you."_

"_I love you too, Ayame."_

Keiko stared back down to the sidewalk.

"My mom even packed me a special lunch!" Izumi exclaimed, presenting a pink bento box to the others. "I'm not allowed to look inside until lunchtime, though."

"My mom doesn't make my lunches anymore," Takuya huffed.

"My mom does," Kouichi said, smiling a little bit. "But she doesn't make Kouji's."

"What? Why?" Takuya asked, smiling at this bit of news.

"I make my own lunch. My mom found out that I can't cook, so she's making me cook my own meals until I can."

"Ouch," Takuya said, grinning nonetheless. "You must have to take a _lot _of Pepto."

"Shut up," Kouji hissed. "It's not my fault that I never learned. When I was a kid, my dad used to cook everything for me, and if he didn't have time, we would order something."

"Poor Kouji," Izumi said, laughing. "All he wanted to do was cook."

Kouji rolled his eyes. "What, is it 'Make Fun of Kouji' day?"

Takuya tipped his head to the side. "Doesn't sound like a bad idea… But today is 'Make Keiko's Face Red' day, remember?"

"Is it really?" Kouichi asked, raising his eyebrows.

"Nah." Takuya waved his hand. "I just wanted to see if Keiko's paying attention. Which she's obviously not. Keiko? Keikooooo!"

"Yeah?" the girl said softly, blinking and looking up to the boy.

"Just wanted to knock you out of your reverie," Takuya said.

"Wow, you know big words," Kouji said snickering to himself. Yes, he really thought he was hilarious.

"Bastard," Takuya grumbled. He grinned. "Hey, we're here!"

"No shit," Kouji muttered, shoving his hands back into his pockets. He looked over to Izumi, who was saying something to Kouichi with a smile on her face. He sighed and looked back to the ground. _~She's just getting over Asashi. Now's not the time.~ _He smiled to himself. _~Soon, though. Soon.~_

**

* * *

**

"I can't believe we're not freshman anymore!" Keiko exclaimed, smiling widely. "And next year we're gonna be sophomores!"

Takuya grinned and slung his arm over Kouji's shoulders. The raven even seemed to be excited. He was smirking slightly. "I can't wait!"

"So you guys still want to come to the coffee shop after school? We're all going. Tomoki included," Keiko said.

Takuya nodded. "Sure thing, sister!"

Keiko laughed and waved as she had to go down a different hallway. "I'll see you guys in a few minutes!"

Takuya grinned at Kouji, who was just walking silently next to him. "She's so adorable. Like, you just want to pinch her cheeks."

"I hope you mean her face," Kouji muttered.

"Well, duh," Takuya huffed, laughing softly. "How come you want to hook up with every girl on the planet besides Keiko? What do you see so wrong in her?"

Kouji shrugged. "Nothing, I guess. I just don't find her very hot. I'm not saying she's ugly at all, because I actually think she's really pretty, but… I don't know. That's just the way it is, I guess."

Takuya sighed. "I think Keiko's really cool, though. You just need to open your eyes. You have like, this weird Keikophobia for some reason."

"No I don't," Kouji grumbled. "I'm just not as close to her as you are."

"You seemed close to her on the night of the play," Takuya replied without missing a beat. "Or the night you and Tamotsu got into a fight over her."

"The fight wasn't over Keiko. People tend to think that. The two of us were just getting really fed up with each other and it just so happened that he brought her up right before we fought."

"Keiko said you tried to seduce her in the bathroom afterwards."

Kouji frowned. "I wasn't in my right mind."

Takuya rolled his eyes. "Of course."

They finally arrived at Kouji's locker, and the raven began putting in his combination.

"You still like Izumi, right?" Takuya asked.

Kouji gazed sidelong at Takuya and nodded. "Yeah… Do you?"

"I do… I'm not going to act on it, though. Especially after what happened with Asashi, you know?"

"Yeah, I guess… Hey, how long have you liked Izumi?"

Takuya blushed lightly. "A while. Since that time she hugged us both in the Digital World."

"Hn…" Kouji shut his locker. "Ready?"

Takuya nodded, blinking. "Hey, what's with the whole change in subject?"

"Well, it's pretty awkward when your best friend loves the girl you love."

Takuya's eyes were wide. "You… _love _her?"

Kouji narrowed his eyes. "No."

"You just said that you did, though!"

"No, I didn't."

Takuya sighed. "Whatever."

**

* * *

**

"We should be meeting them, soon," Keiko said, looking up to Tamotsu, who was currently licking at his ice cream with a pleased look on his face. "Or else Kouji'll have a hernia."

Tamotsu squeezed Keiko's hand and smiled at her. "Okay!"

Keiko looked back to the sidewalk, her heart fluttering. _~Yeah, I definitely love him. I just don't know how to tell him. Or when.~_

"Baby?"

Keiko looked up at Tamotsu. "Yeah?"

"What're you thinking about?" He looked curious.

Keiko blinked before lowering her eyes to the ground. "It's nothing."

Tamotsu stopped, causing the brunette to stop as well. "Keiko." He put his fingers under her chin and made her look up at him. "I know something's wrong."

Keiko shook her head. "It's fine. Just thinking about some stuff. It's not really anything major."

"Are you sure?" he asked softly.

Keiko sighed softly and got onto her tip toes, pressing a kiss to his ice cream-sticky lips. "'M Sure."

"Okay…" Tamotsu took her hand again and the two of them walked into the coffee shop together.

**

* * *

**

Tomoki walked in to the coffee shop, knowing that he was the last one there, since they released the middle school students last. He smiled and waved to his friends, who were all sitting together at one of the tables.

Michiko turned and looked at him, but she frowned slightly and quickly spun back into position. Tomoki sighed and took the only available seat, which was between Junpei and Takuya. Of course. Takuya ruffled his hair and Tomoki huffed. "How was your last day, buddy?"

Tomoki shrugged. "Okay."

"Nothing special happened?" Izumi asked, tilting her head to the side. "Didn't you guys do anything fun?"

"Not really," Tomoki muttered. "We just watched some movies. What did you guys do?" He tried not to glare when Junpei rested his arm across Michiko's shoulders.

"The same, pretty much," Takuya said.

The teens and Tomoki went on for an hour or so, talking about their hopes for their next year and how they felt about leaving school, as well as their best memories of the year, many of them bringing up the fresh pain from Asashi's untimely death.

Eventually they all headed their separate ways. Takuya, Keiko and Kouji all went to Keiko's house together to hang out; Izumi went with Kouichi and Tamotsu to the mall, where she was going to spend her allowance with them; Tomoki was walked back the Shibuya station by Junpei and Michiko, the couple was going to go back to Michiko's house.

It seemed like it was going to be a sucky day, at least for Tomoki.

**

* * *

**

"Uno!" Takuya yelled excitedly, slapping a card down onto the table. "Bitches!"

Keiko put down a yellow card, and right after that, Kouji put a card down that made Takuya have to pick up four more cards.

"Uno," Kouji muttered.

"You bastard!" Takuya picked up cards from the deck. "I was going to win."

"Don't you think it's kind of weird that every time one of us calls uno, we get our asses whooped? Seriously, Kouji's won every single one of these games we've played." Keiko put a card down in the pile.

"I noticed that too!" Takuya threw a card down. "He beat us in Life, Monopoly, Chinese Checkers, Clue…" Kouji tossed his last card into the pile. "Kouji… I don't like playing board games with you."

Kouji shrugged. "I'm just good at them."

"Well, we can see that, now," Keiko mumbled, picking up all the cards and putting them in their box. "You should have told us that before we started."

Kouji narrowed his eyes at the girl. "How was I supposed to know that you two suck at these games?"

Keiko withered under his glare and Takuya defended her. "We don't suck! You're just good at _every_thing."

Kouji raised an eyebrow. "Everything?"

"Everything," Keiko and Takuya said in unison.

"Hmm."

"What do you guys want to do, now?" Keiko asked, laying back on the floor. "It's like, eleven o'clock at night."

Takuya shrugged and laid back, too, on Keiko's left. "Who cares? Let's just lay down for a while."

Kouji stared at the two brunettes before he laid down as well, on Takuya's other side.

"This is such a Kodak moment," Takuya said, smiling.

Keiko laughed tiredly. "You're right."

"And we're all wearing our necklaces," Kouji pointed out.

Takuya sat up suddenly, turning and looking at his two friends. "Let's make a promise!"

Keiko moved into a sitting position, too, looking genuinely curious. Kouji said up too, raising an eyebrow. "What kind of promise?"

Takuya pulled his necklace off and held it out in the middle of them. "Let's all be friends forever."

Keiko smiled and took hers off, putting it next to Takuya's. "Right. Friends forever."

Kouji looked as if he wouldn't do it at first, but he shrugged to himself and put his out. "Right."

And at that moment, the ground began to shake, and all hell broke loose.

**

* * *

**

And cut! Yeah, this one's shorter than usual, right? Just so you all know, this is the prelude to the finale of this fic! D: I'm so sad it's ending, but you'll all be satisfied with the ending. Hopefully. :D

This week's winner was GirlsLikeeBoys. She decided to interview Kouichi!:

1. How are you feeling?

K: I'm feeling okay. A lot better than before, I guess. I'm just happy Kouji's not out drinking and partying every single weekend anymore. It's a big relief.

2. Do you feel like you can really rely on your friends anymore?

K: I haven't really been as close to some of them. But I've really been relying on Junpei and Takuya a lot, lately. The two of them have been a really big help. Kouji, though… I don't know.

3. Do you know that you resemble Cloud Strife?

K: Um… no. I didn't know that.

4. Do you still have feelings for Keiko?

K: Ah, no. I still love her as a friend, but I don't actually like her like that anymore.

5. What's one sentence you'd like to say to Kouji?

K: I'd want to tell him that I love him…


	47. Cold

**Review replies to chapter 46:**

**Caliboy: **You're welcome! Don't worry, I'm sure you'll be happy with the ending, which is coming up in this chapter! Thank you very much for reviewing, and I hope you like the final chapter to The Beginning of Forever! :D

**ThankfulMemories: **Hehe, I love Uno! Thanks so much for reviewing, and I hope you like the last chapter! :D

**GirlsLikeeBoys: **Well, that was the last filler chapter. D: I'm glad you like them now. Even though I know that you ALWAYS DID. Thank you for reviewing, and I hope you like the last chapter! :D

**D4RKWR173R5: **Thank you so much for the review! I hope you like this last chapter!

**Celestial Writer: **Yes, this is the last chapter! Yes, poor, poor, Keiko. (Keiko: *Sobs*) Thanks a bunch for the review, and I hope you like the next chapter!

**Jennison Silverye: **Thank you! I thought the ending was pretty cute as well. :D They make good friends. Thank you so much for the review, and I hope you like this last chapter! :D

**Empyrea: **Hehe, thanks! I'm glad you liked the chapter and thank you for the review! Hope you like this last one!

Alright, kiddies. This here is the last chapter of the Beginning of Forever. I'm so happy with the way this is ending, and I hope you all are too! I really appreciate how much you've all stuck around throughout this crazy journey, and if it weren't for you reviewers, I would've lost interest.

Before I begin listing the crazy amounts of names, I'd like to ask you all to **go on my profile and vote on the poll**! Thanks a bunch if you already did. Also, **GirlsLikeeBoys has two new series' I would look into**! Both of them have the characters from this story on it! Go onto her profile and check it out! :D

I'm also going to do the interview in the beginning of this chapter, so here it is! The winner was Jennison Silverye! She decided to interview Izumi! :D

1. Who do you feel the closest to, currently?

I: That's a good question. I feel very close to Keiko and Kouji. I've always been really close with Keiko, since she's my best friend, but Kouji's really been there for me lately. He's a wonderful friend.

2. If you were given one chance to change the outcome of anything that has happened previously in your life, what would it be?

I: I would made Asashi stay over that night. Or I would have held him up for a longer time. So that he would still be here, rather than being just a memory.

3. What would you do in the event that both Kouji and Takuya ask you out?

I: I would say no to both of them, I think. I'm not really ready for love right now…

4. How do you feel now when you see other couples together?

I: I feel really hurt, and sad. It makes me think of what could have been. When I see Keiko and Tamotsu, or Junpei and Michiko, it stings, because they're so sweet with each other.

5. What was the best memory that you shared with Asashi? (You can choose to ignore this question if it's too personal. Sorry. I hope you are already feeling better, by the way :) )

I: No, it's okay. The best memory with Asashi… was the one we shared on the night he was killed. That moment will be in my heart forever. I'll never forget it.

**(By the way, I just had this epiphany. If the girls in this story were going to have a tribute, and I mean Keiko, Izumi and Michiko, I think it would be She Wants to Move by N.E.R.D. Hehe, just sayin! :D)**

Alright, here are the big thank yous! :D

A special thanks to Sydneybell24, my amazing beta, who has stuck with me through the thick and thin; GirlsLikeeBoys, one of my amazing reviewers and my real life best friend who has supported me no matter what; and Celestial Writer, my very first reviewer, and the only one who has been there from beginning to end.

And to all of the others: Caliboy, Empyrea, Jennison Silverye, ThankfulMemories.

And to the others who I haven't been in contact with in the end: DigiLoveReader, PurpleViolin, My-Little-Star, Small Fox, Hero of The Hazard, Momentai35, Yuki's Little Girl, SwAlLoWiNg DaNtE, LoveCherrySnow, SepherZmon and Rain35 (I sure hope those are the right numbers!) And to anybody else I might have forgotten!

Also, to the people who favorited or put this story on alerts, even if you didn't review!

Thank you all for reading, and here's the last chapter.

**

* * *

**

"This isn't happening, this can't be happening," Takuya mumbled to himself as he, Kouji and Keiko ran down the chaotic streets of Shibuya. "Oh my God."

People were screaming and herding in one direction. The three had to push through, as the river of people was coming right at them.

"We need to stay together!" Kouji yelled. Takuya nodded and grabbed his hand, and the raven took hold of Keiko's wrist. "Let's go!" They all began moving in a speedy line, squeezing their way through the terrified civilians.

After what felt like centuries, they reached a clearing, and they were horrified at what they found.

**

* * *

**

"Oh God, I really don't like this." Kouichi held on tighter to Izumi's shoulders and held his breath.

"Come on Kouichi! This isn't so bad!" Izumi exclaimed, grinning. Her arms were spread out to her sides, and the wind was blowing through her hair.

Apparently, the power that she was granted outside of her evolution was flight. Kouichi didn't find it very amusing, though. He was perched on Izumi's back, holding on for dear life. Her flying wasn't very strong, either. She was wobbling all over the place, and she _still _thought it was fun.

"This feels like a scene straight out of _Spirited Away!_" Izumi cried jovially. "This is so cool!"

Suddenly, the two found themselves losing altitude, due to s strong rush of energy that crashed into them. Izumi barely managed to keep her balance in the air, and she looked down where it had come from and gasped. "Lilthmon!"

The evil Digimon grinned up at them from where she was on top of a building, and she sent another blast at them. It wasn't painful, but it threatened to make them crash.

"Hang on Kouichi!" Izumi cried, bracing herself for another blast. When it hit, the two split apart, high above the bright city below. The two quickly began to transform, and while Kouichi was able to do so, Izumi was hit by another blast and was sent hurtling even faster towards the ground.

**

* * *

**

"It's Izumi!" Kouji cried, rushing forwards with Keiko and Takuya. Kouji was moving far too fast for the two of them. Keiko noted that Kouji had been gifted with extra speed.

Kouji put his arms out and prepared to catch the falling blond. He would be willing to put his own life in jeopardy in order to save her. The blonde's descents suddenly slowed, and soon, she was hovering only feet away from Kouji's outstretched arms, belly down. She blinked, then fell straight onto Kouji, causing them both to fall to the ground.

Izumi groaned softly and sat up slightly, looking at Kouji guiltily. "I'm sorry, Kouji."

The raven shook his head and stared at the girl. "Are you alright?"

She smiled. "Yeah, I'm okay."

Keiko blinked. _~There it is again. The way he looks at her… He loves her… He… Kouji is in love with Izumi.~_

"Keiko, what's the matter?" Izumi asked.

Keiko snapped out of her thoughts. "Oh, sorry. I just got distracted."

"Izumi, are you okay?" Kouichi, who was merged with Lowemon, called as he ran over. "Did you get hurt?"

Izumi shook her head and pulled herself off of Kouji's body. Little did she know, Kouji's face was burning below her. "I'm alright. I had a soft landing." She turned her head and smiled at Kouji. "Thanks…"

The raven cleared his throat and shrugged. "It was nothing…"

"No, really," Izumi breathed gratefully. "Thank you."

"Where did you guys come from?" Takuya asked. "The sky?"

Izumi nodded. "Actually, we did. I can fly, since that's the power that I have outside of my evolution. So Kouichi and I were flying over here and Lilithmon took us down."

"And you two didn't get hurt?" Takuya asked, furrowing his eyebrows. "How is that?"

"She wasn't really attacking us, well, I mean, she was, but it wasn't in order to hurt us," Kouichi explained. "She was just knocking us down here… With you…"

"You think it's a set-up?" Kouji asked, reading his brother's mind as he narrowed his dark blue eyes. "With the other Demon Lords?"

"Wait, what do you mean?" Keiko asked, blinking. "Like, a trap?"

"Obviously," Kouji huffed.

"Well, if it's a trap, where's Junpei and Tomoki?" Keiko asked.

"Heads up!" The five looked up and gawked. There, flying through the air on a pair of skis, was Tomoki, who was merged with Kumamon, and Junpei, hanging on to the younger boy. "Watch out guys!"

They all moved out of the way as Tomoki landed and slowed to a stop. "What happened?" Takuya asked. "Why were you two in such a rush?"

"Belphemon was chasing us," Tomoki said through pants. "He led us here."

"It must be a trap, then," Takuya said softly. "They all brought us here for a reason."

"This must be our final battle against them," Junpei muttered lowly.

"If they were going to kill us, they'd want to make a show of it. Just like this. Right in the middle of the city," Izumi murmured.

"Well, where are they, then?" Kouji growled angrily. "If they wanted to kill us so badly, then where the hell are they?"

Just as those words left his mouth, a blast of energy, eerily similar to the one that buffered Kouichi and Izumi earlier, blasted them across the road. They all tumbled backwards, skidding across the ground.

"Well, well, look who we have here," Lilithmon said, landing feet away from the Legendary Warriors. "You all seemed to have played your parts perfectly."

"Our parts?" Takuya yelled, getting back to his feet. "What are you talking about, 'our parts'?"

"We got you into position one, and that was the only thing we were worried about," the evil Digimon said.

"I knew it," Kouji snarled. "I fucking knew it." He clenched his fists. "What are you all planning on doing, now?"

"We thought it would all be obvious to you," she said, sighing softly. "I guess I'll have to explain. You should know that our goal is to destroy both your world and the Digital World. And as you can see, we're starting here."

"But why?" Takuya asked. "Why are you doing this? What's the point?"

Lilithmon smiled. "I don't think that I want to tell you." The nails on her good hand began to extend. "You guys have better things to be doing, anyway. Right where you all started, Lucemon's waiting for you, Fire."

"And the rest of us?" Kouichi asked.

"Head over, too," Lilithmon said simply. "Wind and I are going to dance."

"No," Kouji said, stepping forward. "I will."

"Kouji, this is my fight," Izumi murmured. "I want to do this. Lilithmon is mine."

Kouji stared at the girl. "Izumi, I-"

"You guys go ahead," the blonde said, smiling at her friends behind her. "I'll meet you all when I'm done."

"Let's go guys," Takuya said. He paused and looked at Izumi. "Good luck Izumi. We all believe in you… _I_ believe in you."

Izumi tilted her head and looked at Takuya, her eyes softening. "Thank you, Takuya."

"Let's go," Junpei said. "Hurry!"

They all headed off and Izumi turned back to Lilithmon. The Digimon smiled. "Now, I believe we have a score to settle, Wind."

"We do, don't we?" Izumi merged with Kazemon. "Let's go, then."

And they did.

**

* * *

**

Kouji was making sure to go slower than normal so that the others could keep up. He tried to remember that he had enhancements. "Damn it. I should've stayed."

"Izumi can take care of herself," Tomoki said. "She's strong, too."

"She doesn't need protecting," Junpei added, agreeing. "She's gonna be just fine."

"I hope so," Kouji muttered. He sounded really nervous.

"Keiko, your knee is bleeding," Takuya said suddenly, pointing to the brunette's leg. "What happened?"

Keiko looked down at her running legs to see that he was correct. "I didn't have time to change out of my school uniform. And when Lilithmon knocked us all over, I skinned my knee…"

"Are you okay?" Takuya asked.

She smiled. "I'm fine. Thank you…"

"I don't see _any_body," Kouichi said as they ran by buildings. "Digimon _or _human."

"I'm sure all the civilians are hiding," Junpei said. "Not that I blame them. I just hope that our families are okay."

"They're probably just worried about us," Tomoki said. "I hope they're not out searching right now."

"They know that we can take care of ourselves," Kouji said. "We're strong. Hopefully they know that we'll be fine."

Keiko gazed over to Kouji. She could tell that he was still worried sick over Izumi. "She'll be okay, Kouji…"

The raven looked over to Keiko. The girl blushed lightly in response. She hadn't meant to say that out loud. "I know," Kouji said softly, only to Keiko. "I just…"

Keiko was taken aback. She figured that she would be the last one that Kouji would confide in. She blinked and looked back to him. He looked troubled, as if his thoughts had drifted to the worst things that could happen to the blonde. "I just worry," he mumbled. "I don't know…"

"Cauda!"

Suddenly, a gigantic tail came swinging their way. Keiko stopped and gasped, as did the others. Kouji acted first, grabbing Keiko, who was the closest to him, and jumping out of the way of the tail. Takuya squawked and sprung away from it as well, Junpei and Tomoki on his tail. The tail crashed into buildings, sending them all crumbling down.

Keiko groaned and got off of Kouji, who was beneath her, rubbing his head. "Um, thank you, Kouji," she murmured.

"Hn." He basically pushed her off then got up, glaring at Leviamon, who was heading their way, a sinister grin on his face.

"Well, I guess that's my cue," Tomoki said, brushing some dust off of his shorts and heading over.

"Be careful, Tomoki!" Takuya said, resting a hand on Tomoki's shoulder and squeezing it. "We're counting on you."

Tomoki nodded. "I know. I'll meet you all at Shibuya Station. Where we all started, right?"

"Right." Takuya smiled. "We'll see you there."

Tomoki merged with Kumamon as the others ran off. "Say hi to Lucemon for me!"

"Very confident, Ice," Leviamon said, circling Tomoki. "You've changed since the last time we met."

"Well you haven't been visiting me lately," Tomoki replied, cracking his neck. "Your loss."

"I see." Leviamon grinned. "Well, let's begin."

Tomoki smiled. "Let's."

**

* * *

**

"Damn I'm glad I lost all of that weight," Junpei panted as he ran down the streets of Shibuya with the remaining five. "I would be dead by now with all of this running."

"You're telling me. We would have had to carry you by now," Keiko said, grinning at the older boy. "Not to mention that you look like sex."

"Knock it off, you two," Kouji growled from the front of the pack. "That's the last thing we should be thinking of right now."

"Sorry," Keiko murmured, looking sheepish. "Wasn't really thinking…"

"Obviously," Kouji grumbled.

"Stop it, Kouji," Takuya said. "We're worried about Izumi and Tomoki, too-"

"Watch out!" Kouichi yelled, pointing to the sky.

Flying above them was Daemon, circling around like a vulture. "Evil Inferno!"

Fire lit the streets, burning the sidewalks around them. A fire hydrant melted completely, causing water to fly up into the air and fall down onto them like a violent rain shower.

"I guess it's my turn now," Kouichi said, wiping wet hair from his eyes and stepping forwards. "I'll see you guys later."

They all nodded and began heading off, all but Kouji. The younger twin took Kouichi's hand in his own. The elder turned around and looked at Kouji's eyes, which looked determined. An unspoken agreement went between them, and then Kouji ran off with the others.

"Alright, Daemon! Let's get on with this!"

**

* * *

**

Just as the last four rounded a corner, a streetlamp swung around, like a baseball bat. Keiko leapt out in front of it, keeping it from hitting the others, and it smashed into her, causing her to go flying through the wall of another building.

"Keiko!" Junpei yelled.

"That's a shame," Barbamon said, his staff raised. Apparently, the evil Digimon was using magic to make the streetlamp hit her like that. "I was aiming for you, Light."

Kouji narrowed his eyes. "You bastard! What were you trying to do?"

"Kill you, obviously," Barbamon said, letting the lamp fall to the ground with a loud clang. "And I may have killed Love." He tilted his head towards the pile of bricks that was left of the wall he sent Keiko in. "That was easy enough."

"How could you?" Takuya yelled, clenching his fist and looking ready to Digivolve. "I could kill you for what you did to her!"

Barbamon turned back to Takuya and the others and rolled his eyes. "Of course you could. You could barely-"

Barbamon was interrupted by his own sharp grunt of pain as he was sent flying through the air and into a building on the other side of the street. Keiko was standing there where he used to be, holding the streetlamp with her new super strength. "Asshole."

"You're okay!" Takuya exclaimed, smiling at the brunette.

Keiko nodded. "I'm fine. You guys hurry and get out of here! I'll take care of Barbamon. He'll be mad when he gets out of there."

"Be careful, Keiko," Junpei said. "Don't let him win."

Keiko gave Junpei a cheerful smile. "I won't! I'll meet you guys, okay?"

The three ran off, leaving Keiko with Barbamon. She dropped the streetlamp and merged with Veenomon, preparing for a battle.

"Love."

Keiko looked up and her eyes widened when she saw Barbamon crouched on top of a building, smiling down at her. "You thought it would be that easy to defeat me?" he asked tauntingly.

"No, actually," Keiko said. "I just thought I got lucky."

Barbamon jumped down, heading straight towards her with his staff in his hand. "Well, you thought wrong!"

**

* * *

**

"Damn, I wish I got the super strength," Takuya said as the last couple of teens ran towards Shibuya Station. "That was sick!"

"Be happy you have anything at all," Kouji grumbled. He was still pretty grumpy after Barbamon attempted to kill him.

"Don't be a bitch, Kouji," Takuya said. "At least Keiko took the hit for you. If it weren't for her, you would be limping around the city."

"Whatever."

"You didn't even say thank you," Junpei said suddenly, blinking. "How rude."

"Both of you, shut the hell up. This isn't the time to be-"

"Wait." Junpei suddenly stopped, turning around and looking at the sky above. "Do you guys hear that?"

"Hear what?" Takuya asked, tilting his head to the side.

"No, I hear it, too," Kouji muttered.

"Go!" Junpei said, pushing them both. "Belphemon's coming!"

"What, he's here?" Takuya asked, his eyes widening.

"No, but I know that he's coming!" Another shove. "Go, both of you! He's not the same as the others! He'll take us all down if he wants to!" A third push. "Go!"

"Good luck, Junpei," Takuya said, slapping him on the back as he and Kouji ran off. "We'll see you!"

"Right." Junpei turned back around. "Of course."

**

* * *

**

"The stupid elevator's not working," Kouji growled, punching the buttons with his fist, causing one to crack. "Shit."

"We'll take the stairs, then," Takuya said, tugging on Kouji's arm. "Come on!"

The two veered to the left and sprinted down the staircases. They were going so fast that they weren't paying very much attention to their footwork. Kouji stumbled over his own feet and lost his balance and began to fall-

_~Why does this feel so familiar? Why is this-~_

-only to be grabbed up by Takuya. "Be more careful," Takuya breathed. "Damn it. You almost went down."

"I know. Th-thanks," Kouji replied lowly.

They finished their descent down the stairs and made it to the place where their adventure had begun, where all the Trailmon trains were supposed to be. It was completely empty, though.

"This is where Lilithmon told us to go, right?" Takuya asked, looking around the gigantic room. "Where's Lucemon?"

"And Beelzemon?" Kouji asked. "Where are they?"

"Oh, Light. You didn't think I forgot about you, right?" Cold metal bumped against the back of Kouji's head. The teen immediately tried to flinch away, but was unable to due to the firm hand on his shoulder. "Now, now, don't do anything stupid. I'm not here to fight you. Although that would be wonderful."

"Kouji!" Takuya began to go over to his friend.

"Don't move another muscle, Fire." Takuya growled at the all-too-familiar voice of Lucemon. "We're not going to fight. Just talk."

"You destroyed our city just so that you could talk to us?" Takuya growled, chuckling mirthlessly. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"Your city is just the start," Lucemon said, stepping out of the shadows. "Next will be Japan, then Asia, then the entire planet! But first, we need what you all possess."

"We won't give you our spirits," Kouji snarled. "Don't even think that we'd do anything so stupid."

"Oh, you can read minds, too, Light?" Beelzemon asked, pushing the metal even harder against Kouji's skull. "I never would have known."

"Gentle, Beelzemon," Lucemon said, not really sounding like he meant it. "This is all talk, remember?"

Beelzemon grinned. "Right. Of course."

"If this is all talk, why'd you send the others out to fight, huh?" Kouji demanded, gritting his teeth.

"I know that you're worried about Wind and Darkness, Light, but don't worry," Lucemon said, waving his hand dismissively. "They won't be killed until we finish this talk."

Takuya narrowed his eyes, trying to keep calm. "What is this talk about?"

"We just want to make sure we're on the same page," Lucemon said. "We don't want to fight right before we go on our world destroying campaign. It's far too troublesome. And you should all know that there's no way you can kill us."

"We can kill you," Takuya snapped. "And we will."

"No, you really can't," Lucemon replied easily. "You really had no idea what you were getting yourselves into when you get us as your counterparts. Not even the Celestial Digimon could defeat us."

"What are you trying to say?" Kouji asked.

"You cannot kill the Seven Great Demon Lords. It is physically impossible."

Takuya blinked. _~I-Impossible?!?~_

"The only reason you defeated me was because the other six were sealed away by the Celestial Digimon," Lucemon explained.

"The seal wasn't very strong, as you can tell," Beelzemon said from behind Kouji, grinning. "Which is why the rest of us got out right after."

"So, we just want to make this easy," Lucemon said, picking up where Beelzemon left off. "We'll kill you and your little friends quickly and easily, and then we'll be done with it. No fighting, here. I want to save my energy."

"No!" Takuya prepared to digivolve.

Lucemon smacked Takuya on the back of the head, causing him to fall to the ground. "That wasn't an option. We will not be fighting tonight."

"Takuya!" Kouji cried, struggling against Beelzemon's hold. In a split second decision, he bit down hard on the evil Digimon's hand.

Beelzemon bellowed angrily and hit Kouji on the back of his head with his gun. Kouji dropped to the ground like a limp doll. "You stupid little fucker," Beelzemon growled.

"Now, now, Beelzemon," Lucemon chided half-heartedly. "Don't damage his brain before you kill him."

"Does it even matter?" He raised his gun and pointed it at Kouji's head. "We're just going to kill them anyway."

Lucemon grinned. "Well, when you put it that way…" He put his hand out and his hand surrounded itself with darkness. "It really _doesn't _matter." He unleashed the energy upon the fallen brunette.

Only for it to be stopped by a blinding light.

"Seraphimon," Lucemon hissed. "What are you doing here?"

"Stopping you." Ophanimon and Cherubimon appeared behind him. "All of you."

"And how do you plan on doing that?" Beelzemon asked. "You have no power here in the human world."

Ophanimon stepped forward. "Think again. Holy Seal!"

Suddenly, Lucemon and Beelzemon began screaming, and elsewhere, the other five Demon Lords were screaming. They began to disintegrate and a bright ball of light began forming in the middle of the room. The balls of darkness that was what was left of Lucemon and Beelzemon were sucked into the ball, and five other balls of light came from the exit of the room and flew into the ball.

"This seal won't be strong enough to hold them," Ophanimon said as the ball of light began to shrink. "But it's enough to keep them out of this world."

Takuya was staring wide eyed as he held Kouji to his chest. The raven was just coming to. "What? What do you mean?"

"No seal is strong enough to keep the Demon Lords away. Unless we used a human seal, of course," Cherubimon said.

"A human seal?" Takuya asked.

"Using a human with a strong heart to hold the seal," Seraphimon explained. "But we can't."

"The human world is safe, now," Ophanimon said. "You can all live in peace."

"What about the Digital World?" Takuya asked. "What will become of that?"

"It will be destroyed," Cherubimon said. "But it is inevitable."

"No! It doesn't have to be!" Takuya exclaimed heatedly.

"There is nothing you can do now, Takuya," Ophanimon said. "The Demon Lords will never sleep. At least we're able to save one world."

"I'll do it."

The three Celestial Digimon suddenly looked over at Takuya, who was standing and looking at them with a deadly calm. "What?" Seraphimon asked, puzzled.

"The human seal. I'll become the seal."

"No, that's preposterous!" Cherubimon said.

"No it's not! Not if it means saving millions of Digimon! I have a strong heart! Use me!" Takuya put a hand to his chest. "I know that I'm throwing everything away, and that it means that I'll never be able to see my friends and family again, but to save the Digital World… I would give my life for it!"

"Are you sure about this, Takuya?" Seraphimon asked softly. "You will never be able to come back. You'll be stuck in the seal for the rest of your life. You'll never see anybody again."

"I don't care," Takuya whispered. "I know that this is my purpose."

"Takuya…" Kouji suddenly murmured from the ground. "Takuya…"

The brunette smiled and walked over to his dazed friend. "Kouji, you're awake."

"What are you talking about?" Kouji asked. "…Human seal?"

Takuya suddenly hugged Kouji tightly. "I'll miss you. Take care of Izumi for me. Love her."

Kouji suddenly felt hot tears in his eyes. He had heard enough from Takuya and the Celestial Digimon to know what was going to happen.

"Takuya," he whispered. "Takuya, please." Takuya turned and stared at the face of his best friend.

He was smiling.

Takuya stared at the big ball of light that he was about to step in to. "There were so many things I didn't get to do," he said softly. "I wanted to apologize to Tomoki… I wanted to get closer to Junpei. I wanted to help Kouichi, and I wanted to tell Keiko that she was one of the most beautiful people I've ever met. I wanted to tell Izumi that I loved her more than I loved myself. I wanted to tell Kouji how much he means to me…" He took a step forwards. "But… I'm sure that inside, they'll know."

As Takuya began to dissolve into the ball of light, he turned around fully and looked at Kouji.

There were loud footsteps, and suddenly the others were there, all looking disheveled, but alive. They were all shocked.

"Takuya… what's…?" Keiko tried to make her mouth work, but the words wouldn't come out.

"Good, I can tell them, now," Takuya said, smiling to himself. "Oi, Tomoki! I'm sorry about what happened. I'm sorry that I treated you like a kid. But you're not."

Tomoki just stared with wide eyes.

"I wish that we were closer, Junpei… But we've become closer than before, right? That's a good thing!"

Junpei smiled weakly.

"Kouichi, you should talk to Kouji. He loves you so much, you don't even know."

Kouichi tried to say Takuya's name, but his lips wouldn't move.

"Keiko, you're beautiful. Inside and out. Don't even think any differently." He smiled. "Take care of Kouji, alright? We both know that he can't take care of himself!"

Tears dripped down Keiko's cheeks.

"Izumi… I love you. I love you so much. I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier."

Izumi sobbed and dropped to her knees.

"And Kouji. You mean the world to me. I'm so glad I met you." He was almost completely faded, now. "Take care of everybody. And lighten up a little bit, okay? You're a great person."

Takuya turned back to the ball of light. "I think… I'm ready, now."

And he stepped in to it.

"Takuya!" Izumi screamed, getting to her feet and running for the light. It was gone before she could even touch it. "Takuya, no! Please!"

Tomoki began to cry hard, sinking to his knees and falling over to the side. Junpei dropped down next to Tomoki and dragged him into a hug, crying right along with him.

Kouichi fell backwards, squeezing the dirt underneath his fingers. It was the only real thing that he knew.

Keiko looked immediately to Kouji, who was laying on the ground screaming. The agonized cried echoed through the train station eerily.

Keiko slowly backed into a wall, leaning against it and sliding down with a bump, bump, bump, before landing on her bottom. "He's gone," she murmured.

And to her, that sealed the deal.

He was dead.

**End**

**

* * *

**

Yes, that was the end. Don't you dare say I rushed it. I wrote this bastard over six months ago. I tweaked it, though. There will be an epilogue posted shortly, and at the end, I will straighten some more things.

Thank you all for reading the final chapter! Good night.


	48. Epilogue: Together Again

When Kouji woke up, he found that he was alone in Keiko's bed. Wait, why was he in Keiko's bed? Blinking, he tried to refresh his memory as to what he was doing here.

_~Oh, that's right. I spent the night at Keiko's house. Wait, why would I spend the night at her house? Why didn't I go to my own house?~_

Obviously, she had been sleeping next to him, as the sheets on his side were pulled to the side. She must've gotten up before him. Laying back, he decided he wanted to melt into the bed forever.

But then, he could hear soft notes floating through the door. A piano? Kouji climbed out of the bed and padded lightly out of the room, going down a few flights of stairs and following the sounds of the piano keys.

It was a complex song, he could tell. There was a mixture of highs and lows, but whoever was playing it was quite gifted. They must have been playing for years.

Kouji opened the glass doors to a room down a couple of hallways, and found that Keiko was sitting at the piano, still in her pajamas, moving her fingers gracefully across the keys. She turned and looked at him blinking. "I'm sorry. Did I wake you up?"

"No," he mumbled, shaking his head. He moved to the bench she was sitting on and took a seat next to her. "You're really good."

"I've been playing since I was four." She turned her eyes back to the keys. "I just talked to Takuya's parents."

Kouji swallowed around the lump in her throat. "And?"

"They were surprised that the Takishita girl they'd seen in the news was calling them. I tried to talk about Takuya, but they told me that they'd never heard about a Takuya in their life." Keiko pressed a key on the piano absently. "He's not in my old yearbook. Tamotsu said that he doesn't know anybody named Takuya. Same with Michiko."

"Wait, you said you talked to Takuya's _parents?_" Kouji furrowed his eyebrows.

"His father answered the phone." Keiko squeezed her hands into tight fists. "Apparently he had never gone to the soccer game. He never got into the car accident."

Kouji was shocked into silence. Keiko picked up where she left off. "All the pictures I have with Takuya in them don't have him in it at all. All traces of him are completely gone. Except for these." Keiko pointed to the necklace around her neck, then gestured to Kouji's. "These are the only things left."

Kouji stared down at the piano, completely unblinking. "Keiko… Will you play a song for me?"

Keiko blinked. "What?"

"Play a song. Please."

Keiko shakily nodded and began to play a soft ballad. Every movement of her fingers was completely eloquent. Kouji stared at her fingers, watching them with dull eyes. Keiko found herself becoming completely taken by the music, her mind on nothing else. She added trills, elongated notes and pushed harder on some keys to add dramatic accents. And when she finished the song and looked over at Kouji, she had to force herself not to gape.

He was crying.

Keiko was shocked, as she had never seen the teen cry before. She didn't know what to do. So, slowly, the brunette placed a hand on his shaking back and rubbed in gentle circles. Kouji tensed away from the touch in the beginning, but he slowly melted into it.

"Kouji," she said gently.

Kouji shook his head, taking a deep, shuddering breath. "It's just hard right now. The… the person who was there for me more than anything else is gone now. And there's nothing I can do."

"I'll be here for you," Keiko whispered, even though she knew that _she _wasn't what he wanted. He wanted Izumi, or Kouichi, or Takuya to let him know it was okay. He didn't want her. "I know that we aren't very close, but…"

"Thank you."

Keiko was silent. She knew. She knew that he hadn't said that because he was satisfied, and he didn't say it because he truly meant it. He had just wanted her to shut up. They both knew that.

But, Keiko played along. "You're welcome." She turned back to the keys. "Do you want me to play something else, Kouji?"

He nodded, sniffling weakly. "Please."

**

* * *

**

Yes, that's the end. Except maybe it's not. Check my profile in a few hours and you may see something else out. :) I'm going to take my poll down soon, so make sure you vote!

Thank you all for reading this fic. I had so many wonderful experiences with it.

And many more to come.


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